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Switching user inside a shell script doesn't seem to work

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Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting Switching user inside a shell script doesn't seem to work
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Old 03-24-2014
In this first code sample that u gave, all the $ symbol were given without escaping them. So what the shell was doing was expanding the variables first and then pass it to the su command. This variables being undefined in the shell in which you invoked them were expanded as blank and then passed to the su. So when you try to print them into a file using echo the actual variables that were getting printed was the one in the main shell and the not the one that was intended,i.e, the One which are in su.
That being said what I did was escape all the characters that might be expanded in the main shell and then pass it to su so that unwantef shell substitution/expansion do not take place.

That also being said the best approach to your issue would be to create another script which does all the things that the other user does and then call that script while you do su. That way you can avoid all these confusion.
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LEARN ABOUT HPUX

sh

sh(1)							      General Commands Manual							     sh(1)

NAME

       sh - overview of various system shells

SYNOPSIS

   POSIX Shell
       option] ...  string] [arg ...]

       option] ...  string] [arg ...]

   Korn Shell
       option] ...  string] [arg ...]

       option] ...  string] [arg ...]

   C Shell
       [command_file] [argument_list ...]

   Key Shell
DESCRIPTION

   Remarks
       The POSIX .2 standard requires that, on a POSIX-compliant system, executing the command activates the POSIX shell (located in file on HP-UX
       systems), and executing the command produces an on-line manual entry that displays the syntax of the POSIX shell command-line.

       However, the command has historically been associated with the conventional Bourne shell, which could confuse some users.   To  meet  stan-
       dards  requirements  and also clarify the relationships of the various shells and where they reside on the system, this entry provides com-
       mand-line syntax and a brief description of each shell, and lists the names of the manual entries where each shell is described in  greater
       detail.

       The Bourne shell is removed from the system starting with HP-UX 11i Version 1.5.  Please use the POSIX shell as an alternative.

   Shell Descriptions
       The HP-UX operating system supports the following shells:

	      POSIX-conforming command programming language and command interpreter
			residing  in  file Can execute commands read from a terminal or a file.  This shell conforms to current POSIX standards in
			effect at the time the HP-UX system release was introduced, and is similar to the Korn shell in many respects.	Similar in
			many  respects to the Korn shell, the POSIX shell contains a history mechanism, supports job control, and provides various
			other useful features.

	      Korn-shell command programming language and commands interpreter
			residing in file Can execute commands read from a terminal or a file.  This shell, like the POSIX shell, contains  a  his-
			tory mechanism, supports job control, and provides various other useful features.

	      A command language interpreter
			that incorporates a command history buffer, C-language-like syntax, and job control facilities.

	      Restricted version of the POSIX shell command interpreter.
			Sets  up  a  login  name  and  execution  environment whose capabilities are more controlled (restricted) than normal user
			shells.

	      restricted version of the Korn-shell command interpreter
			Sets up a login name and execution environment whose capabilities  are	more  controlled  (restricted)	than  normal  user
			shells.

	      An extension of the standard Korn Shell
			that uses hierarchical softkey menus and context-sensitive help.

							  +--------------+--------------------+
							  | To obtain:	 |  Use the command:  |
							  +--------------+--------------------+
							  | POSIX Shell  |  /usr/bin/sh ...   |
							  | Korn Shell	 |  /usr/bin/ksh ...  |
							  | C Shell	 |  /usr/bin/csh ...  |
							  | Key Shell	 |  /usr/bin/keysh    |
							  +--------------+--------------------+
       These shells can also be the default invocation, depending on the entry in the file.  See also chsh(1).

WARNINGS

       Many manual entries contain descriptions of shell behavior or describe program or application behavior similar to ``the shell'' with a ref-
       erence to ``see sh(1)''.

SEE ALSO

       For more information on the various individual shells, see:

       keysh(1)       Key Shell description.

       ksh(1)	      Korn Shell description.

       sh-posix(1)    POSIX Shell description.

       csh(1)	      C Shell description.

																	     sh(1)