change short username
in os x, every user has a long name, like "Administrator", and a short name, like "admin". throughout the system they can be used as synonyms, except if you work with unix tools in a terminal. on unix level, only the short name is registered.
the long name can be modified from the system preferences, but having the short name set up once, it stays the way it is - officially, there is no way to change it. inofficially, there are ways to do it nevertheless.
a nearly complete guide can be found on www.rts-software.com. i made a local copy just in case the link broke. it indicates you the most important steps. but if the user name you want to change is the primary user (and administrator) of the computer, there are some additional steps to take:
now all traces of the old username should be gone. enjoy your new user!
(i will indicate the changes also to bryan schappel from rts-software.com so you might find some steps mentioned twice.)
the long name can be modified from the system preferences, but having the short name set up once, it stays the way it is - officially, there is no way to change it. inofficially, there are ways to do it nevertheless.
a nearly complete guide can be found on www.rts-software.com. i made a local copy just in case the link broke. it indicates you the most important steps. but if the user name you want to change is the primary user (and administrator) of the computer, there are some additional steps to take:
- after replacing the home folder, there might be a folder which has the same name as your old user, because programs you use (or quit) after changing the home folder name will write files into your old ~/Library folder. delete this folder using the root account.
- after new login with new name, the current user has no rights to write in the applications folder. this is because the user is not yet registered as administrator. i guess there are two possibilities:
- open the system preferences, select accounts, the newly created account, tab security, and mark the field "allow this user to administer this computer".
- when doing the action described above, you enable the new user to administer, but you don't disable the old one. to make this more properly, open the netinfo manager, select /groups/admin, and replace the old with your new name.
- open the system preferences, select accounts, the newly created account, tab security, and mark the field "allow this user to administer this computer".
- also in the netinfo manager, the old user continues to exist in /groups. select it, replace the old name with the new, and save.
- and finally, your system may still have a computer name related to the old name, accessible in the sharing settings of the system preferences.
now all traces of the old username should be gone. enjoy your new user!
(i will indicate the changes also to bryan schappel from rts-software.com so you might find some steps mentioned twice.)
