i want to start some processes as user xxxx during system reboot...

when the system comes up, it is signed on as root...how do i change the login in a script

I tried doing this:

su - xxxx << EOF
<password>


EOF

and, this does not work...suggestions?

Since the script is started by root, you should not need the password.

Sybase database can be started as the sybase user account using the following:

su - sybase -c "${SYBASE}/install/startserver -f ${SYBASE}/install/RUN_SBSA & nohup"

Hopefully that will help you with what you are trying to start.
(the portion posted came from a script written in sh on Solaris 2.6)

you'r right about the root login...
but, since i need to test my script before i give it to the admin, how can i login from one login (not root) to a new login.

Personally, I would not add that to my script for testing - test the script on a test box that you can have root access to.

Attempting to add the password will just confuse what you are doing - you will not have a valid test that the script works the way it was intended since you will remove all the code before moving to production - and that will not have been tested!