Linux "runuser" Command Line Options and Examples

run a command with substitute user and group ID

runuser allows to run commands with a substitute user and group ID. If the option -u is not given, it falls back to su-compatible semantics and a shell is executed. The difference between the commands runuser and su is that runuser does not ask for a password (because it may be executed by the root user only) and it uses a different PAM configuration.

Usage:

runuser [options] -u user [[--] command [argument...]]

runuser [options] [-] [user [argument...]]

Related Commands

Command Line Options:

-c

Pass command to the shell with the -c option.


                            runuser -c ...

-f

Pass -f to the shell, which may or may not be useful depending on the shell.


                            runuser -f ...

-g

The primary group to be used. This option is allowed for the root user only.


                            runuser -g ...

-G

Specify a supplemental group. This option is available to the root user only. The first specifiedsupplementary group is also used as a primary group if the option --group is unspecified.


                            runuser -G ...

Start the shell as a login shell with an environment similar to a real login:o clears all the environment variables except for TERMo initializes the environment variables HOME, SHELL, USER, LOGNAME, PATHo changes to the target user's home directoryo sets argv[0] of the shell to '-' in order to make the shell a login shell


                            runuser - ...

-m

Preserve the entire environment, i.e. it does not set HOME, SHELL, USER nor LOGNAME. The option isignored if the option --login is specified.


                            runuser -m ...

-s

Run the specified shell instead of the default. The shell to run is selected according to the follow‐ing rules, in order:o the shell specified with --shello the shell specified in the environment variable SHELL if the --preserve-environment option isusedo the shell listed in the passwd entry of the target usero /bin/shIf the target user has a restricted shell (i.e. not listed in /etc/shells) the --shell option and theSHELL environment variables are ignored unless the calling user is root.


                            runuser -s ...

--session-command

Same as -c , but do not create a new session. (Discouraged.)


                            runuser --session-command ...

-V

Display version information and exit.


                            runuser -V ...

-h

Display help text and exit.CONFIG FILESrunuser reads the /etc/default/runuser and /etc/login.defs configuration files. The following configurationitems are relevant for runuser:ENV_PATH (string)Defines the PATH environment variable for a regular user. The default value is /usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin.ENV_ROOTPATH (string)ENV_SUPATH (string)Defines the PATH environment variable for root. The default value is /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin.ALWAYS_SET_PATH (boolean)If set to yes and --login and --preserve-environment were not specified runuser initializes PATH.EXIT STATUSrunuser normally returns the exit status of the command it executed. If the command was killed by a signal,runuser returns the number of the signal plus 128.Exit status generated by runuser itself:1 Generic error before executing the requested command126 The requested command could not be executed127 The requested command was not foundFILES/etc/pam.d/runuserdefault PAM configuration file/etc/pam.d/runuser-lPAM configuration file if --login is specified/etc/default/runuserrunuser specific logindef config file/etc/login.defs global logindef config file


                            runuser -h ...