How to I change the path when I log in as a new user in ubuntu?

Question

I am running ubuntu on a flash drive. The default log in is "ubuntu". I installed Postgresql and created a new user called "postgres". However, when I switch to postgres with "su postgres", the environmental path variable that I modified to be able to run psql from the terminal is gone. I'm guessing that postgres has it's own files to edit to change the PATH, but I don't know where it its? The .profile file that I can see from the GUI already has the PATH variable modified.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

.profile is only read during login. It should read it if you start a login shell with su - postgres or su -l postgres. In case you use bash, just set the PATH variable in .bashrc, this file gets read during a normal su. Also, you could preserve the current environment for the new user by runnin su -m postgres

Answer 2

If the postgres user has the PATH setup correctly in the relevant shell rc file, you may want to use:

su - 

or

su -l

to simulate full login.