Admin Login to User Account

[segallis]

I have several PC's running Ubuntu/Gnome at home. I am wondering if there is a way as admin that I can log into one of my kid's user accounts with an admin/root password. I realize thru a terminal I can use sudo to gain access to any files, but I want to be able to run from the desktop occasionally.

The only solution I know of right now is to set a password that we both know (I'd prefer to let them pick their own since we've had issues with them logging into someone else's account), or to reset their password when I want access. I'd prefer a simple temporary override sort of like sudo does in a terminal.

Thanks,
-G

[sisco311]

You can use sudo/gksudo to run any application as another user.

To switch to user uname:

sudo -u uname -i
<run commands as uname>
exit    #or press Ctrl+d

For GUI applications use gksudo:

xhost +SI:localuser:uname
gksudo -u uname -l "firefox"
gksudo -u uname -l "nautilus --no-desktop"
xhost -SI:localuser:uname

Or you can start a gnome-session on one of the virtual terminals:

sudo -u uname -i xinit /usr/bin/gnome-session -- :3 vt9

The above code starts the session on vt9, so you can press Ctrl+Alt+F7 (or F8) and Ctrl+Alt+F9 to switch back and forth between the sessions.