su and environmnet

[Eric]

On my S8 system when I su to root I get an odd PATH environment. It's
not inheriting the path from the original user and it doesn't seem to
be picking up anything from root's .profile, .cshrc or .login (which
is absent anyway).

My questions: When I su (to root) where is root getting its path
from? Note I'm not using the "-" option (I'm not the only person who
has to do this and no one here's going to remember it anyway). The
man page for "su" says it's supposed to inherit the original user's
path but that doesn't seem to be true.

What file(s) do I need to edit to get the path I want when I su to
root (again, without the "-" option)?

TIA
eric

[Lordgnome]

Post by Eric
On my S8 system when I su to root I get an odd PATH environment. It's
not inheriting the path from the original user and it doesn't seem to
be picking up anything from root's .profile, .cshrc or .login (which
is absent anyway).
My questions: When I su (to root) where is root getting its path
from? Note I'm not using the "-" option (I'm not the only person who
has to do this and no one here's going to remember it anyway). The
man page for "su" says it's supposed to inherit the original user's
path but that doesn't seem to be true.
What file(s) do I need to edit to get the path I want when I su to
root (again, without the "-" option)?
TIA
eric

My memory may be fading, as I have been retired from admining for 10 years,
but would a possible suggestion be that SU takes you into a Bourne shell
(unless the root account is changed) and thus if you are relying on your
environment coming from a C shell, there would be no .profile to read from?

Les.

[Martin Carpenter]

When I su (to root) where is root getting its path from?

Have you tried /etc/default/su?

[Eric]

Post by Martin Carpenter

When I su (to root) where is root getting its path from?

Have you tried /etc/default/su?

Ah, okay. So if I su to root, root takes on the path environment
specified in supath? Can that path be overridden from some other
file?

Thanks,
eric

[Richard B. Gilbert]

Post by Eric

Post by Martin Carpenter

When I su (to root) where is root getting its path from?

Have you tried /etc/default/su?

Ah, okay. So if I su to root, root takes on the path environment
specified in supath? Can that path be overridden from some other
file?
Thanks,
eric

What problem are you trying to solve?

[Eric]

Post by Richard B. Gilbert

Post by Martin Carpenter

When I su (to root) where is root getting its path from?

Have you tried /etc/default/su?

Ah, okay.  So if I su to root, root takes on the path environment
specified in supath?  Can that path be overridden from some other
file?
Thanks,
eric

What problem are you trying to solve?

Well, I think the problem is pretty much solved (edit supath in /etc/
default/su). The point of my follow-on question is just to sort of
round out my knowledge.

eric

[Martin Carpenter]

Post by Eric
So if I su to root, root takes on the path environment
specified in supath?

Yes, if you don't specify "su -" (as you noticed).

Post by Eric
Can that path be overridden from some other file?

No, it's hardcoded in su.c:

#define DEFFILE "/etc/default/su"


This is curious, from su.c's header:

/* Copyright (c) 1987, 1988 Microsoft Corporation */
/* All Rights Reserved */

(from OpenSolaris).

[Casper H.S. Dik]

Post by Eric
On my S8 system when I su to root I get an odd PATH environment. It's
not inheriting the path from the original user and it doesn't seem to
be picking up anything from root's .profile, .cshrc or .login (which
is absent anyway).
My questions: When I su (to root) where is root getting its path
from? Note I'm not using the "-" option (I'm not the only person who
has to do this and no one here's going to remember it anyway). The
man page for "su" says it's supposed to inherit the original user's
path but that doesn't seem to be true.
What file(s) do I need to edit to get the path I want when I su to
root (again, without the "-" option)?

It should come from /etc/default/su (SUPATH option for root, PATH for
ordinary users)

Depending on the root's shell, it may get the path set by the
init scripts (many shells will source a .file when they are interactive
started)

Casper