Re: change home directory name

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Author: Michael Havens
Date:  
To: Main PLUG discussion list
Subject: Re: change home directory name
thanks for explainig the rationale of putting the old user name last.

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Matrix Mole <> wrote:

> If the account you are trying to change is your current account, it may be
> easier to login as root to make the changes (just to prevent any existing
> programs in memory trying to use the old username/directory). I'd also use
> the command as follows:
>
> usermod -l <newuser> -md <newuser> <olduser>
>
> since an existing username needs to be at the end (so the command knows
> what user account to modify).
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 1:26 PM, Michael Havens <> wrote:
>
>> I'll use usermod then. Thanks for letting me know about it. so I think
>> this is the proper syntax. Will this work?
>>
>> sudo usermod -l <olduser> <newuser> -dm <newuser>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 1:13 PM, Matrix Mole <> wrote:
>>
>>> If you are changing your username, there is flags to the usermod command
>>> that can help change the home directory. The -d flag to usermod will update
>>> /etc/passwd with the users home directory, and the -m flag will move the
>>> old directory to the new name. I'm pretty sure that usermod will also take
>>> care of the ownership issues as well. Check 'man usermod' for more details
>>> on this. If you don't use the usermod command, then there is also the
>>> ownership issue to consider with changing home directory. The chown command
>>> can help make sure the directory is owned by the correct user with 'chown
>>> -R {username} [homedir]' command.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 1:00 PM, Michael Havens <> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thanks. Is that the only thing I have to worry about?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 12:57 PM, Patricia Wilson <
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Note that your home directory name appears in the /etc/passwd file so
>>>>> the system knows where you "live" when you login. If you change the name of
>>>>> that directory you need to change your entry in the passwd file to match.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 12:17 PM, Michael Havens <>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> How would I accomplish this? Is it as easy as just moving the old
>>>>>> name to the new name; or should I do a 'find -r / <old directory>|mv -
>>>>>> <newdirectory'?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> :-)~MIKE~(-:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list -
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Sent from my super hot-shot dual core 64 bit Gateway running Ubuntu 11
>>>>> from the chrome/teakwood/glass desktop in my Luxo Scottsdale condo.
>>>>>
>>>>> Patricia Wilson
>>>>> Apache Junction, AZ
>>>>> Member NRA, ARRL
>>>>> WB8DXX
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> :-)~MIKE~(-:
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> :-)~MIKE~(-:
>>
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