On OS X, how do I log in interactively as root starting from my normal user account?

Question

I have been doing this for a while:

sudo su -

but it uses 'sh' rather than 'bash', which is what I'd like to do.

Which command will log me in as root and get me a bash shell even if that's not the default the system gives me?

jw013 · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-13 17:16:55Z

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Try this command:

sudo -i bash

answered Jul 13 '12 at 17:16

jw013
15.8k12753

	You know it's interesting... your command sounds great if I read the "man page" but it does not go through my .profile (?!), using sudo bash -l does... but it keeps me in /Users/robottinosino rather than /var/root! Hmmm... any ideas? – Robottinosino Jul 13 '12 at 17:19
	@Robottinosino How are you determining that `.profile` is not read? It is read for me, as it should. – jw013 Jul 13 '12 at 17:31
	Because .profile has side effects for me, like locking a file somewhere, and these are not triggered. – Robottinosino Jul 13 '12 at 17:35
	Just to make sure, this is root's profile you are talking about right? – jw013 Jul 13 '12 at 17:37
	$ grep root /etc/passwd (...) root:*:0:0:System Administrator:/var/root:/bin/sh but I learned this convention is not used on OS X? Something else is used instead (read: chsh) – Robottinosino Jul 13 '12 at 19:08

1 Answer