Changing System name

Question

I am given an old Ubuntu working system and the previous user had everything on his name so started turning it to my name as typing his name everywhere was bugging me. I tried:

$ usermod -l hussain darhamid

This turned the darhamid@darhamid:$ into hussain@darhamid:$

But I want hussain@darhamid:$ also changed to hussain@hussain. What should I do?

I am using ubuntu 12.04

Solution 1

You have to change the computers hostname as well.

Edit the hostname file and replace the name

gksudo gedit /etc/hostname

also change the name in hosts

gksudo gedit /etc/hosts

Leave the other stuff there untouched.

For the username, it would be cleaner if you deleted the old user and created your new one.

Solution 2

You'll have to edit /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts, and replace the old hostname with the new.

PS: On the second thought, I'd probably just reinstall to get a clean system.

Solution 3

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Input the following command and hit Enter: gksudo gedit /etc/hostname

3. When prompted, enter the administrator password and click the OK button.

4. The hostname file will open, displaying the current computer name. Replace the current computer name with the desired new name.

5. Click Save.

6. Close all open windows and restart your system.

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Source: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2732/ubuntu_how_to_change_computer_name/

Comments

[kiri]

Possible duplicate: How do I change the computer name?

[fabricator4]

Agreed: it's best to make a new user, however it should be pointed out that the new user must be an admin user and must have sudo rights, otherwise the system can never be updated or have new software installed. Perhaps it would be wise to leave the old admin user there as a recovery option.

[phoibos]

You're right, if you don't know how to do this, better leave it as it is ;D

[Aquarius Power]

after reboot, at network connections, while editing wireless hotspot, the old name remained.. my guess is we should grep the whole system for the old name to see if it was left untouched somewhere else :(. Here I have these /etc files /etc/cups/printers.conf.O, /etc/cups/printers.conf and /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Hotspot that still contained the old name :(, my guess is not other places for it to be "hiding" :>

[Aquarius Power]

For the hotspot file you can use the network connections configuration, thats surely safe. The printers configuration, at properties, will handle the cups files.