su(1)

NAME
     su - temporary become superuser or another user

SYNOPSIS
     su [-[e]] [user [shell-arguments ...]]

DESCRIPTION
     Su can be used to temporarily run a  shell  under  the  identity  of  the
     superuser or another user.  Unless the caller is a member of the operator
     group, one is prompted for the password of the  user-to-be.   Calls  that
     need  a  password  are  logged, whether they succeed or not.  The default
     user is root.  Further arguments are handed to the shell.  By default the
     shell  started is the shell of the invoker, and the environment is passed
     on as is.

     The activities of su are logged through syslog(3) under Minix-vmd.

OPTIONS

     -    Constructs a new environment consisting of the PATH, USER,  LOGNAME,
          HOME,  SHELL,  TERM,  TERMCAP, and TZ variables.  The environment is
          the same as on a normal login, except that TERM, TERMCAP and TZ  are
          copied  from  the  current  environment if set.  The current working
          directory is changed to the user home directory, the  shell  of  the
          user-to-be  is  run,  and  it  is started as a login shell, with the
          first character a minus sign.

     -e   Like above, but the shell is started normally, not as a login shell.

SEE ALSO
     sh(1), login(1), syslog(3).

AUTHOR
     Kees J. Bot <kjb@cs.vu.nl>