I'm trying to login to my mysql user created by the MySQL installation in bash shell.
So the command I'm trying to do is:
sudo -i -u mysql
But, it does nothing (nothing printed out in the console, not connected to any user whatsoever, etc...). EDIT: The return value of the command is 1 though.
Here is the mysql user line in the /etc/passwd file:
mysql:x:89:89::/var/lib/mysql:/bin/false
I'm running on ArchLinux 64bit and the user I'm trying to connect to is local (no connection to a remote server whatsoever).
I'm trying to understand why I can login with any other user (like postgres, root, ...) but not mysql.
Hope you can help!
This is intended behaviour. When you compare the /etc/passwd line with other lines you'll notice that the user mysql has /bin/false setup as the shell while others have usually /bin/sh or sth. similar.
When you sudo to mysql you actually get a login for about a millisecond or so and then his "shell" gets executed. /bin/false immediately returns with rc=1 (that's the only purpose of the false command).
This is some kind of "trick" to prevent users from logging in as user mysql although the account is otherwise fully operational.
The user mysql may even have a valid password and be enabled but due to his odd shell setting you cannot login as him. Sometimes these technical users have /usr/bin/passwd set as their shell. Then you can only sudo to that user and change his password, nothing else.