Regarding changing Hostname and Server name in Terminal

[dilip.h.n]

Hello,
If i open a terminal i am getting as

dilip@Dilip:~$

where "dilip" is Server name and "Dilip" is Hostname (correct me if i am wrong....
I tried to change hostname by the command:

gksudo gedit /etc/hostname /etc/hosts

But i am unable to change the Server name ie., "dilip"

So, How can i change this server name...? What are the commands need to be given..??

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you.

[slickymaster]

Thread moved to Server Platforms.

[slickymaster]

Hello,
If i open a terminal i am getting as

dilip@Dilip:~$

where "dilip" is Server name and "Dilip" is Hostname (correct me if i am wrong....
I tried to change hostname by the command:

gksudo gedit /etc/hostname /etc/hosts

But i am unable to change the Server name ie., "dilip"

So, How can i change this server name...? What are the commands need to be given..??

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you.

dilip is the username for the current user
Dilip is the hostname of the server

After changing the server hostname you'll have to reboot it so the change takes effect

[dilip.h.n]

Sorry,
I want to change the username for the current user ie., "dilip".
I am able to change the hostname of the server but unable to change the username for the current user...

So, How do i change the username for the current user ie., "dilip"...???

Thank you.

[slickymaster]

sudo usermod -l newUsername oldUsername

After that done rename your home folder

sudo usermod -d /home/newHomeDir -m newUsername

Log out and log in using your new username

[springshades]

You'll need to use the "usermod" command with the --login flag. Note that this may not be as simple as you think it is, since you may want to also change the location of your HOME directory as well to match. It's not entirely clear whether you want to do that or not.

Look at the manual page for the command to see if any of the other options are necessary for what you want to accomplish.

EDIT: The previous post is a better answer. We just happened to post at approximately the same time.

[TheFu]

There are a few other ways, but using usermod is probably safest.
I would sudoedit the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files. This will only change the username, not the HOME directory for that userid, which is also in the passwd file and it will leave the default groupname alone too. If you want, you can change those by editing the group and gshadow files in /etc/.

There is a manpage for each of these config files which explains what each field means. Section 5 is for config files, so man -s5 passwd will show information about the config and not the passwd command. manpages rock.

There is also a group-mod command - I'd have to look it up and read the manpage on it to get the correct options.

Also, editing these files only works for simple setups. In a corporate environment with LDAP (or some other) userid/groupid controls, it may be necessary to use those other tools to rename a username.

[dilip.h.n]

If i give the following command in the terminal as:-
sudo usermod -l DILIP dilip

it shows the message as:-
usermod: user dilip is currently used by process 1365

How do i solve this issue..??

[dilip.h.n]

If i give the following command in the terminal as:-
sudo usermod -l DILIP dilip

it shows the message as:-
usermod: user dilip is currently used by process 1365

How do i solve this..??

[TheFu]

See post #7 for manual steps.

Or use a different account to make the changes.