Capistrano::Switchuser

This gem adds a function that allows you to switch the user capistrano uses when running ssh commands at runtime.

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'capistrano-switchuser'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install capistrano-switchuser

Add the following line to your deploy.rb file:

require 'capistrano/switchuser'

You can then call the switchuser function to switch the user for all subsequent commands:

run('whoami') # will output original value of user e.g. 'deployer'
switchuser(:ubuntu)
run('whoami') # will output 'ubuntu'

You can also switch the user for a subset of commands by passing a block:

switchuser(:ubuntu) do
  run('whoami') # will output 'ubuntu'
end
run('whoami') # will output original value of user e.g. 'deployer'

You must have ssh privileges for any user you set!