Changing user account name when migrating

[brianus]

Is there a way to change the user account name when migrating from an old Mac to a new one? I don't just mean the display name, but the actual, underlying unix username. I want to have all my settings, files, applications and such transfer over when I get an MBP, but the username on my Mac mini is unfortunately very specific to that machine and I want something more generic for the next machine. Is that possible?

[wrldwzrd89]

The only way I know of to do this is to not use the migration assistant at all, create the new user as you normally would, then copy all the old files to the new user manually. You may have some permission issues after the transfer, especially if the UID (user identifier - a number associated with the user in UNIX) changed. These can be fixed either in the Terminal (with the chmod, chown, and chgrp commands) or in the Finder, using the Get Info window and the Ownership and Permissions section.

[GimmeSlack12]

The only way I know of to do this is to not use the migration assistant at all, create the new user as you normally would, then copy all the old files to the new user manually. You may have some permission issues after the transfer, especially if the UID (user identifier - a number associated with the user in UNIX) changed. These can be fixed either in the Terminal (with the chmod, chown, and chgrp commands) or in the Finder, using the Get Info window and the Ownership and Permissions section.

That's the hard way.
Go download ChangeShortName and let it do the work for you. Its very fast and easy.