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The USER env variable is unchanged after gaining root access.

[user1@comp]$ echo $USER
user1

Logged in the system as 'user1'. Now check the output after gaining root access.

[user1@comp]$ su
Password: 

[root@comp]# echo $USER
user1

If I were to login as 'root' user, then USER env is set to 'root'. There is no issue there. This behavior was observed in Fedora and CentOS. Why is the env variable not updated?

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  • what OS are you on? the $USER env variable often doesnt get updated when you switch to root, you can try whoami or some other alternative like , I have read who am i works for some people too (but not for me on Ubuntu) Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 6:02
  • @the_velour_fog. Thanks that didn't click my mind Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 6:18

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Use su - instead, to ensure you inherit the root env.

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  • Ah. i just needed to do man su to understand my mistake. Thanks Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 6:45
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Use sudo -E su command which is set them in /etc/environment.

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