Linux / Unix: whoami Command Examples

I am a new Linux and Unix system user. How do I listing my own username? How can I display my login name on Linux or Unix-like systems?

You need to use the whoami command to display your login name. This command display the user name associated with the current logged in user at your console.[donotprint]

Purpose

Displays your login name without root authority.

Syntax

The basic syntax is as follows:

whoami
whoami --version
whoami --help

whoami command examples

To simply display your username, type:
$ whoami
Sample outputs:

Animated gif 01: Displaying your username using whoami and id commands

You can use this command in a shell script as follows:

## if username is admin, do something ##
if [ "$(whoami)" == "admin" ]
then
     echo "Welcome back admin. Updating repo data in $HOME/foo/bar..."
     ## your commands for admin user ##
fi

Recommend alternative to whoami command

The whoami command has been obsoleted by the id command. You need to use the following command which is equivalent to id -un:
$ id -un
Sample outputs:

vivek

See also

• /etc/passwd file
• whoami(1) Linux/Unix command man page
• Man pages – passwd(5)