# SU command not working **URL:** \ **Category:** SLES SAP Applications\ **Created:** [March 14, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498 "2017-03-14T03:24:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![karthickgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@karthickgin](https://forums.suse.com/u/karthickgin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498/1 "2017-03-14T03:24:47Z")
Dear All, I have got SUSE Linux server version LSB Version: n/a Distributor ID: SUSE LINUX Description: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Release: 12 Codename: 12 Linux version 3.12.60-52.54-default (geeko@buildhost) (gcc version 4.8.5 (SUSE Linux) ) #1 SMP Sat Jun 25 06:22:00 UTC 2016 (e55cce6) contains SAP HANA database. su command stopped to work suddenly. No changes happened in system. I am not getting any error, i logged in as root and tried to su to SAPSIDadm account. Its not working. Any help is appreciated. Thanks Kartik ---
**Author:** ![malcolmlewis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/malcolmlewis/32/11375_2.png) [@malcolmlewis](https://forums.suse.com/u/malcolmlewis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498/2 "2017-03-14T03:44:24Z")
> [@](#): > > On Tue 14 Mar 2017 01:34:01 AM CDT, karthickgin wrote: > > Dear All, > > I have got SUSE Linux server version > LSB Version: n/a > Distributor ID: SUSE LINUX > Description: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 > Release: 12 > Codename: 12 > Linux version 3.12.60-52.54-default (geeko@buildhost) (gcc version 4.8.5 > (SUSE Linux) ) #1 SMP Sat Jun 25 06:22:00 UTC 2016 (e55cce6) > > contains SAP HANA database. > > su command stopped to work suddenly. No changes happened in system. I am > not getting any error, i logged in as root and tried to su to SAPSIDadm > account. Its not working. Any help is appreciated. > > Thanks > Kartik Hi How are you switching to root user, should be with a - and adm is all lowercase. ```auto su - root su sapsidadm whoami ``` – Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890) openSUSE Leap 42.1|GNOME 3.16.2|4.1.38-50-default If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface, please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![karthickgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@karthickgin](https://forums.suse.com/u/karthickgin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498/3 "2017-03-14T04:20:46Z")
Hi Malcolm, I logged in as root and used su - XXXadm XXXX:~ # whoami root XXXX:~ # su - XXXXadm XXXX:~ # it still remains as root user ---
**Author:** ![ab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@ab1](https://forums.suse.com/u/ab1)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:38am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498/4 "2017-03-14T04:38:32Z")
I would guess either the user either lacks a valid login shell, or else the username is wrong somehow. Upper-case characters in usernames are really rare, so it may be worthwhile to first verify that the user shows up as you think, along with other user-based settings. Pot the output to the following: ```auto getent passwd ``` – Good luck. If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface, show your appreciation and click on the star below… ---
**Author:** ![karthickgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@karthickgin](https://forums.suse.com/u/karthickgin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498/5 "2017-03-14T04:55:58Z")
Hi Malcom, We dont use UPPERCASE in user, for hidding i mentioned as XXXX. output of getent passwd f[PHP]elix:~ # getent passwd at:x:25:25:Batch jobs daemon:/var/spool/atjobs:/bin/bash bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/bin/bash daemon:x:2:2:Daemon:/sbin:/bin/bash ftp:x:40:49:FTP account:/srv/ftp:/bin/bash games:x:12:100:Games account:/var/games:/bin/bash haldaemon:x:101:102:User for haldaemon:/var/run/hald:/bin/false lp:x:4:7:Printing daemon:/var/spool/lpd:/bin/bash mail:x:8:12:Mailer daemon:/var/spool/clientmqueue:/bin/false messagebus:x:100:101:User for D-Bus:/var/run/dbus:/bin/false mysql:x:60:108:MySQL database admin:/var/lib/mysql:/bin/false nobody:x:65534:65533:nobody:/var/lib/nobody:/bin/bash ntp:x:74:110:NTP daemon:/var/lib/ntp:/bin/false pesign:x:105:107:PE-COFF signing daemon:/var/lib/pesign:/bin/false polkituser:x:106:109:PolicyKit:/var/run/PolicyKit:/bin/false postfix:x:51:51:Postfix Daemon:/var/spool/postfix:/bin/false pulse:x:107:111:PulseAudio daemon:/var/lib/pulseaudio:/bin/false puppet:x:104:106:Puppet daemon:/var/lib/puppet:/bin/false root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash sshd:x:102:103:SSH daemon:/var/lib/sshd:/bin/false suse-ncc:x:108:113:Novell Customer Center User:/var/lib/YaST2/suse-ncc-fakehome:/bin/bash uuidd:x:103:105:User for uuidd:/var/run/uuidd:/bin/false wwwrun:x:30:8:WWW daemon apache:/var/lib/wwwrun:/bin/false sapadm:x:109:79:SAP Local Administrator:/home/sapadm:/bin/false ha1adm:x:1001:79:SAP HANA Database System Administrator:/usr/sap/HA1/home:/bin/sh man:x:13:62:Manual pages viewer:/var/cache/man:/bin/bash news:x:9:13:News system:/etc/news:/bin/bash uucp:x:10:14:Unix-to-Unix CoPy system:/etc/uucp:/bin/bash statd:x:110:65534:NFS statd daemon:/var/lib/nfs:/sbin/nologin ftpsecure:x:111:65534:Secure FTP User:/var/lib/empty:/bin/false polkitd:x:499:498:User for polkitd:/var/lib/polkit:/sbin/nologin scard:x:498:497:Smart Card Reader:/var/run/pcscd:/usr/sbin/nologin rtkit:x:497:496:RealtimeKit:/proc:/bin/false lighttpd:x:496:495:user for lighttpd:/var/lib/lighttpd:/bin/false hacluster:x:90:90:heartbeat processes:/var/lib/heartbeat/cores/hacluster:/bin/bash nscd:x:495:494:User for nscd:/run/nscd:/sbin/nologin openslp:x:494:2:openslp daemon:/var/lib/empty:/sbin/nologin rpc:x:493:65534:user for rpcbind:/var/lib/empty:/sbin/nologin hbdadm:x:1000:79:SAP HANA Database System Administrator:/usr/sap/HBD/home:/bin/sh d02adm:x:1002:79:SAP System Administrator:/home/d02adm:/bin/csh hpdadm:x:1003:79:SAP HANA Database System Administrator:/usr/sap/HPD/home:/bin/sh d03adm:x:1004:79:SAP System Administrator:/home/d03adm:/bin/csh [/PHP] ---
**Author:** ![ab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@ab1](https://forums.suse.com/u/ab1)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498/6 "2017-03-14T11:57:33Z")
On 03/13/2017 09:04 PM, karthickgin wrote:[color=blue] > We dont use UPPERCASE in user, for hidding i mentioned as XXXX. > output of getent passwd[/color] Does your box have the C shell on it, I presume? Just to verify: ```auto ls -l /bin/csh /bin/sh ``` Assuming that is there, it may be interesting to see what happens in the /var/log/messages file when you try to use ‘su’, so run the following before and while doing the test: ```auto tail -f /var/log/messages ``` – Good luck. If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface, show your appreciation and click on the star below… ---
**Author:** ![dpartrid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b77776/32.png) [@dpartrid](https://forums.suse.com/u/dpartrid)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/su-command-not-working/29498/7 "2017-05-02T20:35:29Z")
I’m sorry if this is not helpful and is just my own confusion, but here it is: Earlier in this thread you were calling the user “sapsidadm”. Later, you were hiding part of the name, XXXXadm. Then you gave “getent passwd” output. Within that output, there is no “sapsidadm”. So I’m not sure how to check the validity of your user entry. But _if_ the real entry is “sapadm” then I note that it is using shell /bin/false. This could explain why you can’t su to that user.