[Spliff]

Is there an easier way to change the short user name in OS X? I've had several family members and friends ask me how to change their short user name because they're unhappy with the name they chose upon installation of OS X.

Apple has a document about how to do it and it sure isn't elegant. I've followed several times but results have been very mixed. It's only worked flawlessly once. A couple of times there were permission issues with files from the old account that had to be changed individually. And three time I had to reinstall OS X from scratch because permissions problems were rampant. I have no idea why the results were so inconsistent.

Today over at Macintouch, a person posted the following method for changing the short user name.

Subject: Re: Changing user names in OS X

This is actually fairly easy. What you want to do is change both the "short" and "long" names; the Accounts preference pane will let you change the long name, but you need to use NetInfo Manager to change the short name, so you might as well use it to change three things: the short name, the long name, and the home directory name.

Open NetInfo Manager, authenticate, click on the 'users' item, then the login id of the user you want to change. In the bottom pane, change the values for 'realname', 'name', and 'home' as appropriate for your new user, save your changes, and quit NetInfo Manager. Then, in a Terminal window, issue the command:
sudo mv /Users/old_short_name /Users/new_short_name

and you should be all set.

I'm wary of using NetInfo Manager. Is this method valid, because it seems easier than Apple's suggested method?

Are they any foolproof methods that are relatively easy and elegant and that avoid permission problems?

Let me add that changing the short user name is the most common request I get from OS X users and when I tell them it's not an easy thing to do, they look at me blankly. Is there a reason why Apple hasn't added an easy way to do this via the Accounts preference pane?

[boma]

Originally posted by Spliff:
Is there an easier way to change the short user name in OS X? I've had several family members and friends ask me how to change their short user name because they're unhappy with the name they chose upon installation of OS X.

Apple has a document about how to do it and it sure isn't elegant. I've followed several times but results have been very mixed. It's only worked flawlessly once. A couple of times there were permission issues with files from the old account that had to be changed individually. And three time I had to reinstall OS X from scratch because permissions problems were rampant. I have no idea why the results were so inconsistent.

Today over at Macintouch, a person posted the following method for changing the short user name.



I'm wary of using NetInfo Manager. Is this method valid, because it seems easier than Apple's suggested method?

Are they any foolproof methods that are relatively easy and elegant and that avoid permission problems?

Let me add that changing the short user name is the most common request I get from OS X users and when I tell them it's not an easy thing to do, they look at me blankly. Is there a reason why Apple hasn't added an easy way to do this via the Accounts preference pane?

Create new accounts. Delete the old ones and dump the created images from the old accounts in the new home folders, or move files and library folder manualy. Fix permissions with Cocktail.

[gatorparrots]

Changing the short user name is not so trivial on a firmly-entrenched user account. Not only are there NetInfo entries and the user's home directory to rename, there are also system-level files that need to be renamed. It usually creates a cascading series of problems as a result. There are many issues to surmount such as keychains, user-installed software, personal web sharing, possible mailboxes, etc.

This is amplified if it is your own day-to-day account as you will be the one to experience the problems and ramifications of the change. The short user name is integral to the user account and has been used since its creation, so changing it is only for those who don't mind mopping up the mess for a largely cosmetic change.

Here's some required reading before attempting such a change:

Changing the "Short Name / Home Directory" in OS X
http://forums.osxfaq.com/viewtopic.php?t=5038

How can I change my shortname
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showth...threadid=10295

[Spliff]

Thanks Gatorparrots.

I guess changing the user short name is so difficult because of all the underlying UNIX stuff in OS X. You can't make an OS more powerful without making it more complex.

I hope that Apple or some third-party developer comes out with an app that allows you to easily change your short username along with your keychain, personal web-sharing, etc.

[ntsc]

they should really make some other way of identifying a user then their short name cos this clearly isn't really working well. How about the id number instead, that makes much more sense since the user doesn't really touch this and it isn't really used anywhere is it?