How do I change my username?

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297

Some time ago when I installed Ubuntu I chose a rather stupid username for my account that I do not want to use anymore.

How do I change this (including the name of my home directory, and the name in the terminal) without loosing settings for applications?

How do I keep permissions and my keys for various authentification (e.g. email, SSH, GPG and more)?

What settings could possibly get lost if I changed my username?

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

add a comment |

297

Some time ago when I installed Ubuntu I chose a rather stupid username for my account that I do not want to use anymore.

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

add a comment |

297

147

Some time ago when I installed Ubuntu I chose a rather stupid username for my account that I do not want to use anymore.

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

Some time ago when I installed Ubuntu I chose a rather stupid username for my account that I do not want to use anymore.

permissions keyrings gnupg ssh user-profile

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

edited Dec 16 '14 at 15:48

Mateo

7,43385073

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

asked Apr 8 '11 at 8:25

Takkat

109k37254379

add a comment |

7 Answers
7

active

oldest

votes

300

Unix-like operating systems decouple the user name from the user identity, so you may safely change the name without affecting the ID. All permissions, files, etc are tied to your identity (uid), not your username.

To manage every aspect of the user database, you use the usermod tool.

To change username (it is probably best to do this without being logged in):

sudo usermod -l newUsername oldUsername

This however, doesn't rename the home folder.

To change home-folder, use

sudo usermod -d /home/newHomeDir -m newUsername

after you changed the username.

For instance, you could logout, drop to a console (Ctrl+Alt+F1), and sudo su - to become true root (as opposed to sudo -s, where $HOME is still /home/yourname.) Maybe you also have to kill some still running processes from this user first. To do so, enter ps -u username, look for the matching PID and kill them by kill PID-number.

Update: as arrange mentioned, some files may reference your old home directory. You can either keep a symlink for backward compatibility, e g ln -s /home/newname /home/oldname or you can change the file contents with sed -i.bak 's/*oldname*/*newname*/g' *list of files* It creates a backup for each file with a .bak extension.

Some additional information for not so experienced users like me:

As I only have ONE user account (administrator), it would not let me change the username ("you are already logged in" was the response in TTY1 (Ctrl+Alt+F1). To get around this:

Login with your old credentials and add a new user, e.g. "temporary" in TTY1:
```
sudo adduser temporary
```
set the password.

Allow the temporary user to run sudo by adding the user to sudo group:
```
sudo adduser temporary sudo
```

Log out with the command exit.

Return to tty1: Login with the 'temporary' user account and password. Change your username and folder as mentioned above. exit (until you get the login prompt)

Go back to TTY7 (Ctrl+Alt+F7) to login on the GUI/normal desktop screen and see if this works.

Delete temporary user and folder:

sudo deluser temporary

sudo rm -r /home/temporary

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

10

This is unfortunately not true for different configuration files under $HOME, try running something like grep -IRFl /home/username ~ and you will see how many references to your home directory are stored there.

– arrange
Apr 8 '11 at 9:17

1

Was a simple fix -- Just had to use the User Accounts editor in unity, followed by restart.

– Steve Koch
Feb 24 '14 at 17:29

5

For those with an encrypted home folder, you'll have to edit /home/.ecryptfs/oldusername/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to point to your new home folder, else you won't be able to login via Unity.

– raphael
Jan 22 '16 at 21:57

2

sudo usermod -d /home/edge -m edge yields: usermod: Directory /home/empedokles could not be renamed in /home/edge i.e. step 4 won't work.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 10:50

2

@JTC never edit sudoers with plain nano. Always use visudo.

– styrofoam fly
Jan 4 '18 at 11:09

|
show 7 more comments

100

To put it all together:

At the start screen press Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Set a password for the "root" account.
```
sudo passwd root
```

Log out.
```
exit
```

Change the username and the home folder to the new name that you want.
```
usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>
```

Change the group name to the new name that you want.
```
groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>
```

Lock the "root" account.
```
passwd -l root
```

If you were using ecryptfs (encrypted home directory). Mount your encrypted directory using ecryptfs-recover-private and edit <mountpoint>/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to reflect your new home directory.

Log out.
```
exit
```

Press Ctrl+Alt+F7.

And now you can log in using your new username.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

6

If after usermod -l you get a user <oldname> is currently used by process <processno>, you can find that process (probably a daemon, or tmux/screen) using ps aux | grep <processno>. You might want to gracefully stop that process, otherwise you can kill <processno>.

– RedPixel
Sep 30 '15 at 8:46

1

Thank you for putting this comment together. It was very useful. Two things that might be mentioned though. After step 4 I rebooted so I wouldn't get error messages at step 6. Also, after this process is complete, the /etc/passwd file will have and ID comment matching the old username. This will cause the login screen to display the old login name. I couldn't find a decent way to fix it from the command line, but I did fix it by logging into the user account, going to the account settings and changing the "Login Name" to the username. This updated the /etc/passwd file and fixed the problem.

– Jibbers
Mar 28 '16 at 17:17

1

This is the most easy and fool-proof way to do it. It's better reboot after step 4 as @Jibbers suggested.

– Yerke
Apr 8 '16 at 5:45

I'd mention that the "bookmarks in the File browser windows" are now pointing to the old folders, so I have to delete those bookmarks.

– ollydbg23
Jun 4 '16 at 8:47

Won't work. If you press Ctrl+Alt+F1 at the beginning it's trying to log in into the newly created user which it won't allow.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 8:54

|
show 4 more comments

Restart in recovery mode and go to the root prompt shell ("Drop to root shell prompt")

First remount the root

mount -o remount,rw /

To change the username and home folder name,

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

For group name,

groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

1

when I use usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> this gives me error usermod: user oldusername is currently used by process 3170 and if I kill the process still it gives me the same error. using ubuntu 13.10

– Waqas
Nov 24 '13 at 13:48

4

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOUR HOME DIRECTORY IS ENCRYPTED!!!! I followed this procedure and it sent me for a wild 2 hour ride... The only way to recover is to perform this procedure again and put the original (disliked) name back in. The problem you will have is "Cannot chdir into mount point"

– Mike
Oct 28 '16 at 12:21

add a comment |

(Using Ubuntu 13.10, 14.04, 16.04) Click on the "System Settings" icon. Then click on "User Accounts". Your administrator account should be displayed. Click on the "Unlock" button. Enter your user password as requested to allow changes to your account. Once unlocked, you can click on your old User name that you wish to change and type in a new User name to replace it. When you have typed in the new name, click on the "Lock" button to make the change permanent. Restart Ubuntu.

edited Sep 6 '16 at 6:31

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

1

This did not change the username for me, just the name. The old username still appears in the terminal, and as the home directory and group (even after rebooting).

– DougC
Mar 7 '18 at 19:30

add a comment |

When receiving usermod: can't change /etc/password just run the following commands:

In the root recovery console run:

mount -o remount,rw /

Then rerun:

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

add a comment |

when you do usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> you will get
useradd: can't change /etc/passwd error message to avoid this just add sudo -- to above command like

sudo -- usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

and

sudo --  groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

add a comment |

-3

Since not all the PCs have the usermod app you can do it manually. As of root open /etc/passwd to edit:

sudo vim /etc/passwd

and change the user's name at the beginning of a line:

user:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

to:

newuser:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

then if you worked of root just login, and if you have been logged in to user, logoff, and relogin.

edited May 11 '16 at 18:26

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

I tried this way (before I discovered the usermod command) and the user's password is no longer accepted.

– Ben Voigt
May 11 '16 at 17:51

@BenVoigt not all the pcs have the usermod

– Малъ Скрылевъ
May 11 '16 at 18:25

2

It's Ubuntu! If it doesn't have usermod your install is broken as it is part of the passwd package, which is required.

– Auspex
Mar 6 '17 at 14:10

add a comment |

protected by heemayl Nov 19 '15 at 10:38

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7 Answers
7

active

oldest

votes

7 Answers
7

active

oldest

votes

300

To manage every aspect of the user database, you use the usermod tool.

To change username (it is probably best to do this without being logged in):

sudo usermod -l newUsername oldUsername

This however, doesn't rename the home folder.

To change home-folder, use

sudo usermod -d /home/newHomeDir -m newUsername

after you changed the username.

Login with your old credentials and add a new user, e.g. "temporary" in TTY1:
```
sudo adduser temporary
```
set the password.

Allow the temporary user to run sudo by adding the user to sudo group:
```
sudo adduser temporary sudo
```

Log out with the command exit.

Return to tty1: Login with the 'temporary' user account and password. Change your username and folder as mentioned above. exit (until you get the login prompt)

Go back to TTY7 (Ctrl+Alt+F7) to login on the GUI/normal desktop screen and see if this works.

Delete temporary user and folder:

sudo deluser temporary

sudo rm -r /home/temporary

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

10

This is unfortunately not true for different configuration files under $HOME, try running something like grep -IRFl /home/username ~ and you will see how many references to your home directory are stored there.

– arrange
Apr 8 '11 at 9:17

1

Was a simple fix -- Just had to use the User Accounts editor in unity, followed by restart.

– Steve Koch
Feb 24 '14 at 17:29

5

For those with an encrypted home folder, you'll have to edit /home/.ecryptfs/oldusername/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to point to your new home folder, else you won't be able to login via Unity.

– raphael
Jan 22 '16 at 21:57

2

sudo usermod -d /home/edge -m edge yields: usermod: Directory /home/empedokles could not be renamed in /home/edge i.e. step 4 won't work.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 10:50

2

@JTC never edit sudoers with plain nano. Always use visudo.

– styrofoam fly
Jan 4 '18 at 11:09

|
show 7 more comments

300

To manage every aspect of the user database, you use the usermod tool.

To change username (it is probably best to do this without being logged in):

sudo usermod -l newUsername oldUsername

This however, doesn't rename the home folder.

To change home-folder, use

sudo usermod -d /home/newHomeDir -m newUsername

after you changed the username.

Login with your old credentials and add a new user, e.g. "temporary" in TTY1:
```
sudo adduser temporary
```
set the password.

Allow the temporary user to run sudo by adding the user to sudo group:
```
sudo adduser temporary sudo
```

Log out with the command exit.

Return to tty1: Login with the 'temporary' user account and password. Change your username and folder as mentioned above. exit (until you get the login prompt)

Go back to TTY7 (Ctrl+Alt+F7) to login on the GUI/normal desktop screen and see if this works.

Delete temporary user and folder:

sudo deluser temporary

sudo rm -r /home/temporary

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

10

This is unfortunately not true for different configuration files under $HOME, try running something like grep -IRFl /home/username ~ and you will see how many references to your home directory are stored there.

– arrange
Apr 8 '11 at 9:17

1

Was a simple fix -- Just had to use the User Accounts editor in unity, followed by restart.

– Steve Koch
Feb 24 '14 at 17:29

5

For those with an encrypted home folder, you'll have to edit /home/.ecryptfs/oldusername/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to point to your new home folder, else you won't be able to login via Unity.

– raphael
Jan 22 '16 at 21:57

2

sudo usermod -d /home/edge -m edge yields: usermod: Directory /home/empedokles could not be renamed in /home/edge i.e. step 4 won't work.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 10:50

2

@JTC never edit sudoers with plain nano. Always use visudo.

– styrofoam fly
Jan 4 '18 at 11:09

|
show 7 more comments

300

To manage every aspect of the user database, you use the usermod tool.

To change username (it is probably best to do this without being logged in):

sudo usermod -l newUsername oldUsername

This however, doesn't rename the home folder.

To change home-folder, use

sudo usermod -d /home/newHomeDir -m newUsername

after you changed the username.

Login with your old credentials and add a new user, e.g. "temporary" in TTY1:
```
sudo adduser temporary
```
set the password.

Allow the temporary user to run sudo by adding the user to sudo group:
```
sudo adduser temporary sudo
```

Log out with the command exit.

Return to tty1: Login with the 'temporary' user account and password. Change your username and folder as mentioned above. exit (until you get the login prompt)

Go back to TTY7 (Ctrl+Alt+F7) to login on the GUI/normal desktop screen and see if this works.

Delete temporary user and folder:

sudo deluser temporary

sudo rm -r /home/temporary

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

To manage every aspect of the user database, you use the usermod tool.

To change username (it is probably best to do this without being logged in):

sudo usermod -l newUsername oldUsername

This however, doesn't rename the home folder.

To change home-folder, use

sudo usermod -d /home/newHomeDir -m newUsername

after you changed the username.

Login with your old credentials and add a new user, e.g. "temporary" in TTY1:
```
sudo adduser temporary
```
set the password.

Allow the temporary user to run sudo by adding the user to sudo group:
```
sudo adduser temporary sudo
```

Log out with the command exit.

Return to tty1: Login with the 'temporary' user account and password. Change your username and folder as mentioned above. exit (until you get the login prompt)

Go back to TTY7 (Ctrl+Alt+F7) to login on the GUI/normal desktop screen and see if this works.

Delete temporary user and folder:

sudo deluser temporary

sudo rm -r /home/temporary

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

edited Mar 23 '18 at 12:08

muru

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

answered Apr 8 '11 at 8:48

Egil

10.9k23546

10

This is unfortunately not true for different configuration files under $HOME, try running something like grep -IRFl /home/username ~ and you will see how many references to your home directory are stored there.

– arrange
Apr 8 '11 at 9:17

1

Was a simple fix -- Just had to use the User Accounts editor in unity, followed by restart.

– Steve Koch
Feb 24 '14 at 17:29

5

For those with an encrypted home folder, you'll have to edit /home/.ecryptfs/oldusername/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to point to your new home folder, else you won't be able to login via Unity.

– raphael
Jan 22 '16 at 21:57

2

sudo usermod -d /home/edge -m edge yields: usermod: Directory /home/empedokles could not be renamed in /home/edge i.e. step 4 won't work.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 10:50

2

@JTC never edit sudoers with plain nano. Always use visudo.

– styrofoam fly
Jan 4 '18 at 11:09

|
show 7 more comments

10

This is unfortunately not true for different configuration files under $HOME, try running something like grep -IRFl /home/username ~ and you will see how many references to your home directory are stored there.

– arrange
Apr 8 '11 at 9:17

1

Was a simple fix -- Just had to use the User Accounts editor in unity, followed by restart.

– Steve Koch
Feb 24 '14 at 17:29

5

For those with an encrypted home folder, you'll have to edit /home/.ecryptfs/oldusername/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to point to your new home folder, else you won't be able to login via Unity.

– raphael
Jan 22 '16 at 21:57

2

sudo usermod -d /home/edge -m edge yields: usermod: Directory /home/empedokles could not be renamed in /home/edge i.e. step 4 won't work.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 10:50

2

@JTC never edit sudoers with plain nano. Always use visudo.

– styrofoam fly
Jan 4 '18 at 11:09

This is unfortunately not true for different configuration files under $HOME, try running something like grep -IRFl /home/username ~ and you will see how many references to your home directory are stored there.

– arrange
Apr 8 '11 at 9:17

Was a simple fix -- Just had to use the User Accounts editor in unity, followed by restart.

– Steve Koch
Feb 24 '14 at 17:29

For those with an encrypted home folder, you'll have to edit /home/.ecryptfs/oldusername/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to point to your new home folder, else you won't be able to login via Unity.

– raphael
Jan 22 '16 at 21:57

sudo usermod -d /home/edge -m edge yields: usermod: Directory /home/empedokles could not be renamed in /home/edge i.e. step 4 won't work.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 10:50

@JTC never edit sudoers with plain nano. Always use visudo.

– styrofoam fly
Jan 4 '18 at 11:09

|
show 7 more comments

100

To put it all together:

At the start screen press Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Set a password for the "root" account.
```
sudo passwd root
```

Log out.
```
exit
```

Change the username and the home folder to the new name that you want.
```
usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>
```

Change the group name to the new name that you want.
```
groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>
```

Lock the "root" account.
```
passwd -l root
```

If you were using ecryptfs (encrypted home directory). Mount your encrypted directory using ecryptfs-recover-private and edit <mountpoint>/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to reflect your new home directory.

Log out.
```
exit
```

Press Ctrl+Alt+F7.

And now you can log in using your new username.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

6

If after usermod -l you get a user <oldname> is currently used by process <processno>, you can find that process (probably a daemon, or tmux/screen) using ps aux | grep <processno>. You might want to gracefully stop that process, otherwise you can kill <processno>.

– RedPixel
Sep 30 '15 at 8:46

1

Thank you for putting this comment together. It was very useful. Two things that might be mentioned though. After step 4 I rebooted so I wouldn't get error messages at step 6. Also, after this process is complete, the /etc/passwd file will have and ID comment matching the old username. This will cause the login screen to display the old login name. I couldn't find a decent way to fix it from the command line, but I did fix it by logging into the user account, going to the account settings and changing the "Login Name" to the username. This updated the /etc/passwd file and fixed the problem.

– Jibbers
Mar 28 '16 at 17:17

1

This is the most easy and fool-proof way to do it. It's better reboot after step 4 as @Jibbers suggested.

– Yerke
Apr 8 '16 at 5:45

I'd mention that the "bookmarks in the File browser windows" are now pointing to the old folders, so I have to delete those bookmarks.

– ollydbg23
Jun 4 '16 at 8:47

Won't work. If you press Ctrl+Alt+F1 at the beginning it's trying to log in into the newly created user which it won't allow.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 8:54

|
show 4 more comments

100

To put it all together:

At the start screen press Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Set a password for the "root" account.
```
sudo passwd root
```

Log out.
```
exit
```

Change the username and the home folder to the new name that you want.
```
usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>
```

Change the group name to the new name that you want.
```
groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>
```

Lock the "root" account.
```
passwd -l root
```

If you were using ecryptfs (encrypted home directory). Mount your encrypted directory using ecryptfs-recover-private and edit <mountpoint>/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to reflect your new home directory.

Log out.
```
exit
```

Press Ctrl+Alt+F7.

And now you can log in using your new username.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

6

If after usermod -l you get a user <oldname> is currently used by process <processno>, you can find that process (probably a daemon, or tmux/screen) using ps aux | grep <processno>. You might want to gracefully stop that process, otherwise you can kill <processno>.

– RedPixel
Sep 30 '15 at 8:46

1

Thank you for putting this comment together. It was very useful. Two things that might be mentioned though. After step 4 I rebooted so I wouldn't get error messages at step 6. Also, after this process is complete, the /etc/passwd file will have and ID comment matching the old username. This will cause the login screen to display the old login name. I couldn't find a decent way to fix it from the command line, but I did fix it by logging into the user account, going to the account settings and changing the "Login Name" to the username. This updated the /etc/passwd file and fixed the problem.

– Jibbers
Mar 28 '16 at 17:17

1

This is the most easy and fool-proof way to do it. It's better reboot after step 4 as @Jibbers suggested.

– Yerke
Apr 8 '16 at 5:45

I'd mention that the "bookmarks in the File browser windows" are now pointing to the old folders, so I have to delete those bookmarks.

– ollydbg23
Jun 4 '16 at 8:47

Won't work. If you press Ctrl+Alt+F1 at the beginning it's trying to log in into the newly created user which it won't allow.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 8:54

|
show 4 more comments

100

To put it all together:

At the start screen press Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Set a password for the "root" account.
```
sudo passwd root
```

Log out.
```
exit
```

Change the username and the home folder to the new name that you want.
```
usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>
```

Change the group name to the new name that you want.
```
groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>
```

Lock the "root" account.
```
passwd -l root
```

If you were using ecryptfs (encrypted home directory). Mount your encrypted directory using ecryptfs-recover-private and edit <mountpoint>/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to reflect your new home directory.

Log out.
```
exit
```

Press Ctrl+Alt+F7.

And now you can log in using your new username.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

To put it all together:

At the start screen press Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Set a password for the "root" account.
```
sudo passwd root
```

Log out.
```
exit
```

Change the username and the home folder to the new name that you want.
```
usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>
```

Change the group name to the new name that you want.
```
groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>
```

Lock the "root" account.
```
passwd -l root
```

If you were using ecryptfs (encrypted home directory). Mount your encrypted directory using ecryptfs-recover-private and edit <mountpoint>/.ecryptfs/Private.mnt to reflect your new home directory.

Log out.
```
exit
```

Press Ctrl+Alt+F7.

And now you can log in using your new username.

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

edited Nov 19 '15 at 8:30

hg8

9,992125591

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

answered Jul 6 '13 at 9:43

Valentin Uveges

1,119185

6

If after usermod -l you get a user <oldname> is currently used by process <processno>, you can find that process (probably a daemon, or tmux/screen) using ps aux | grep <processno>. You might want to gracefully stop that process, otherwise you can kill <processno>.

– RedPixel
Sep 30 '15 at 8:46

1

Thank you for putting this comment together. It was very useful. Two things that might be mentioned though. After step 4 I rebooted so I wouldn't get error messages at step 6. Also, after this process is complete, the /etc/passwd file will have and ID comment matching the old username. This will cause the login screen to display the old login name. I couldn't find a decent way to fix it from the command line, but I did fix it by logging into the user account, going to the account settings and changing the "Login Name" to the username. This updated the /etc/passwd file and fixed the problem.

– Jibbers
Mar 28 '16 at 17:17

1

This is the most easy and fool-proof way to do it. It's better reboot after step 4 as @Jibbers suggested.

– Yerke
Apr 8 '16 at 5:45

I'd mention that the "bookmarks in the File browser windows" are now pointing to the old folders, so I have to delete those bookmarks.

– ollydbg23
Jun 4 '16 at 8:47

Won't work. If you press Ctrl+Alt+F1 at the beginning it's trying to log in into the newly created user which it won't allow.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 8:54

|
show 4 more comments

6

If after usermod -l you get a user <oldname> is currently used by process <processno>, you can find that process (probably a daemon, or tmux/screen) using ps aux | grep <processno>. You might want to gracefully stop that process, otherwise you can kill <processno>.

– RedPixel
Sep 30 '15 at 8:46

1

Thank you for putting this comment together. It was very useful. Two things that might be mentioned though. After step 4 I rebooted so I wouldn't get error messages at step 6. Also, after this process is complete, the /etc/passwd file will have and ID comment matching the old username. This will cause the login screen to display the old login name. I couldn't find a decent way to fix it from the command line, but I did fix it by logging into the user account, going to the account settings and changing the "Login Name" to the username. This updated the /etc/passwd file and fixed the problem.

– Jibbers
Mar 28 '16 at 17:17

1

This is the most easy and fool-proof way to do it. It's better reboot after step 4 as @Jibbers suggested.

– Yerke
Apr 8 '16 at 5:45

I'd mention that the "bookmarks in the File browser windows" are now pointing to the old folders, so I have to delete those bookmarks.

– ollydbg23
Jun 4 '16 at 8:47

Won't work. If you press Ctrl+Alt+F1 at the beginning it's trying to log in into the newly created user which it won't allow.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 8:54

If after usermod -l you get a user <oldname> is currently used by process <processno>, you can find that process (probably a daemon, or tmux/screen) using ps aux | grep <processno>. You might want to gracefully stop that process, otherwise you can kill <processno>.

– RedPixel
Sep 30 '15 at 8:46

Thank you for putting this comment together. It was very useful. Two things that might be mentioned though. After step 4 I rebooted so I wouldn't get error messages at step 6. Also, after this process is complete, the /etc/passwd file will have and ID comment matching the old username. This will cause the login screen to display the old login name. I couldn't find a decent way to fix it from the command line, but I did fix it by logging into the user account, going to the account settings and changing the "Login Name" to the username. This updated the /etc/passwd file and fixed the problem.

– Jibbers
Mar 28 '16 at 17:17

This is the most easy and fool-proof way to do it. It's better reboot after step 4 as @Jibbers suggested.

– Yerke
Apr 8 '16 at 5:45

I'd mention that the "bookmarks in the File browser windows" are now pointing to the old folders, so I have to delete those bookmarks.

– ollydbg23
Jun 4 '16 at 8:47

Won't work. If you press Ctrl+Alt+F1 at the beginning it's trying to log in into the newly created user which it won't allow.

– empedokles
Oct 13 '16 at 8:54

|
show 4 more comments

Restart in recovery mode and go to the root prompt shell ("Drop to root shell prompt")

First remount the root

mount -o remount,rw /

To change the username and home folder name,

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

For group name,

groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

1

when I use usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> this gives me error usermod: user oldusername is currently used by process 3170 and if I kill the process still it gives me the same error. using ubuntu 13.10

– Waqas
Nov 24 '13 at 13:48

4

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOUR HOME DIRECTORY IS ENCRYPTED!!!! I followed this procedure and it sent me for a wild 2 hour ride... The only way to recover is to perform this procedure again and put the original (disliked) name back in. The problem you will have is "Cannot chdir into mount point"

– Mike
Oct 28 '16 at 12:21

add a comment |

Restart in recovery mode and go to the root prompt shell ("Drop to root shell prompt")

First remount the root

mount -o remount,rw /

To change the username and home folder name,

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

For group name,

groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

1

when I use usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> this gives me error usermod: user oldusername is currently used by process 3170 and if I kill the process still it gives me the same error. using ubuntu 13.10

– Waqas
Nov 24 '13 at 13:48

4

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOUR HOME DIRECTORY IS ENCRYPTED!!!! I followed this procedure and it sent me for a wild 2 hour ride... The only way to recover is to perform this procedure again and put the original (disliked) name back in. The problem you will have is "Cannot chdir into mount point"

– Mike
Oct 28 '16 at 12:21

add a comment |

Restart in recovery mode and go to the root prompt shell ("Drop to root shell prompt")

First remount the root

mount -o remount,rw /

To change the username and home folder name,

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

For group name,

groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

Restart in recovery mode and go to the root prompt shell ("Drop to root shell prompt")

First remount the root

mount -o remount,rw /

To change the username and home folder name,

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

For group name,

groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

edited Dec 5 '13 at 12:18

Eric Carvalho

42.6k17118148

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

answered Apr 8 '11 at 9:23

karthick87

50.3k54167218

1

when I use usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> this gives me error usermod: user oldusername is currently used by process 3170 and if I kill the process still it gives me the same error. using ubuntu 13.10

– Waqas
Nov 24 '13 at 13:48

4

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOUR HOME DIRECTORY IS ENCRYPTED!!!! I followed this procedure and it sent me for a wild 2 hour ride... The only way to recover is to perform this procedure again and put the original (disliked) name back in. The problem you will have is "Cannot chdir into mount point"

– Mike
Oct 28 '16 at 12:21

add a comment |

1

when I use usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> this gives me error usermod: user oldusername is currently used by process 3170 and if I kill the process still it gives me the same error. using ubuntu 13.10

– Waqas
Nov 24 '13 at 13:48

4

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOUR HOME DIRECTORY IS ENCRYPTED!!!! I followed this procedure and it sent me for a wild 2 hour ride... The only way to recover is to perform this procedure again and put the original (disliked) name back in. The problem you will have is "Cannot chdir into mount point"

– Mike
Oct 28 '16 at 12:21

when I use usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> this gives me error usermod: user oldusername is currently used by process 3170 and if I kill the process still it gives me the same error. using ubuntu 13.10

– Waqas
Nov 24 '13 at 13:48

DO NOT DO THIS IF YOUR HOME DIRECTORY IS ENCRYPTED!!!! I followed this procedure and it sent me for a wild 2 hour ride... The only way to recover is to perform this procedure again and put the original (disliked) name back in. The problem you will have is "Cannot chdir into mount point"

– Mike
Oct 28 '16 at 12:21

add a comment |

edited Sep 6 '16 at 6:31

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

1

This did not change the username for me, just the name. The old username still appears in the terminal, and as the home directory and group (even after rebooting).

– DougC
Mar 7 '18 at 19:30

add a comment |

edited Sep 6 '16 at 6:31

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

1

This did not change the username for me, just the name. The old username still appears in the terminal, and as the home directory and group (even after rebooting).

– DougC
Mar 7 '18 at 19:30

add a comment |

edited Sep 6 '16 at 6:31

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

edited Sep 6 '16 at 6:31

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

edited Sep 6 '16 at 6:31

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

answered Jul 7 '14 at 22:45

Chicodoodoo

10114

1

This did not change the username for me, just the name. The old username still appears in the terminal, and as the home directory and group (even after rebooting).

– DougC
Mar 7 '18 at 19:30

add a comment |

1

This did not change the username for me, just the name. The old username still appears in the terminal, and as the home directory and group (even after rebooting).

– DougC
Mar 7 '18 at 19:30

This did not change the username for me, just the name. The old username still appears in the terminal, and as the home directory and group (even after rebooting).

– DougC
Mar 7 '18 at 19:30

add a comment |

When receiving usermod: can't change /etc/password just run the following commands:

In the root recovery console run:

mount -o remount,rw /

Then rerun:

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

add a comment |

When receiving usermod: can't change /etc/password just run the following commands:

In the root recovery console run:

mount -o remount,rw /

Then rerun:

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

add a comment |

When receiving usermod: can't change /etc/password just run the following commands:

In the root recovery console run:

mount -o remount,rw /

Then rerun:

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

When receiving usermod: can't change /etc/password just run the following commands:

In the root recovery console run:

mount -o remount,rw /

Then rerun:

usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

edited Jul 30 '14 at 13:08

chaos

19.9k86068

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

answered Jul 30 '14 at 12:14

user1511576

412

add a comment |

when you do usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> you will get
useradd: can't change /etc/passwd error message to avoid this just add sudo -- to above command like

sudo -- usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

and

sudo --  groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

add a comment |

when you do usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> you will get
useradd: can't change /etc/passwd error message to avoid this just add sudo -- to above command like

sudo -- usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

and

sudo --  groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

add a comment |

when you do usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> you will get
useradd: can't change /etc/passwd error message to avoid this just add sudo -- to above command like

sudo -- usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

and

sudo --  groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

when you do usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname> you will get
useradd: can't change /etc/passwd error message to avoid this just add sudo -- to above command like

sudo -- usermod -l <newname> -d /home/<newname> -m <oldname>

and

sudo --  groupmod -n <newgroup> <oldgroup>

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

edited Nov 19 '15 at 10:37

heemayl

68.4k11145216

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

answered Aug 6 '13 at 6:12

Sriraj Hebbar

add a comment |

-3

Since not all the PCs have the usermod app you can do it manually. As of root open /etc/passwd to edit:

sudo vim /etc/passwd

and change the user's name at the beginning of a line:

user:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

to:

newuser:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

then if you worked of root just login, and if you have been logged in to user, logoff, and relogin.

edited May 11 '16 at 18:26

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

I tried this way (before I discovered the usermod command) and the user's password is no longer accepted.

– Ben Voigt
May 11 '16 at 17:51

@BenVoigt not all the pcs have the usermod

– Малъ Скрылевъ
May 11 '16 at 18:25

2

It's Ubuntu! If it doesn't have usermod your install is broken as it is part of the passwd package, which is required.

– Auspex
Mar 6 '17 at 14:10

add a comment |

-3

Since not all the PCs have the usermod app you can do it manually. As of root open /etc/passwd to edit:

sudo vim /etc/passwd

and change the user's name at the beginning of a line:

user:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

to:

newuser:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

then if you worked of root just login, and if you have been logged in to user, logoff, and relogin.

edited May 11 '16 at 18:26

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

I tried this way (before I discovered the usermod command) and the user's password is no longer accepted.

– Ben Voigt
May 11 '16 at 17:51

@BenVoigt not all the pcs have the usermod

– Малъ Скрылевъ
May 11 '16 at 18:25

2

It's Ubuntu! If it doesn't have usermod your install is broken as it is part of the passwd package, which is required.

– Auspex
Mar 6 '17 at 14:10

add a comment |

-3

Since not all the PCs have the usermod app you can do it manually. As of root open /etc/passwd to edit:

sudo vim /etc/passwd

and change the user's name at the beginning of a line:

user:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

to:

newuser:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

then if you worked of root just login, and if you have been logged in to user, logoff, and relogin.

edited May 11 '16 at 18:26

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

Since not all the PCs have the usermod app you can do it manually. As of root open /etc/passwd to edit:

sudo vim /etc/passwd

and change the user's name at the beginning of a line:

user:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

to:

newuser:x:500:501:username:home/user:/bin/bash

then if you worked of root just login, and if you have been logged in to user, logoff, and relogin.

edited May 11 '16 at 18:26

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

edited May 11 '16 at 18:26

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

answered Dec 16 '14 at 13:15

Малъ Скрылевъ

234213

I tried this way (before I discovered the usermod command) and the user's password is no longer accepted.

– Ben Voigt
May 11 '16 at 17:51

@BenVoigt not all the pcs have the usermod

– Малъ Скрылевъ
May 11 '16 at 18:25

2

It's Ubuntu! If it doesn't have usermod your install is broken as it is part of the passwd package, which is required.

– Auspex
Mar 6 '17 at 14:10

add a comment |

I tried this way (before I discovered the usermod command) and the user's password is no longer accepted.

– Ben Voigt
May 11 '16 at 17:51

@BenVoigt not all the pcs have the usermod

– Малъ Скрылевъ
May 11 '16 at 18:25

2

It's Ubuntu! If it doesn't have usermod your install is broken as it is part of the passwd package, which is required.

– Auspex
Mar 6 '17 at 14:10

I tried this way (before I discovered the usermod command) and the user's password is no longer accepted.

– Ben Voigt
May 11 '16 at 17:51

@BenVoigt not all the pcs have the usermod

– Малъ Скрылевъ
May 11 '16 at 18:25

It's Ubuntu! If it doesn't have usermod your install is broken as it is part of the passwd package, which is required.

– Auspex
Mar 6 '17 at 14:10

add a comment |

protected by heemayl Nov 19 '15 at 10:38

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