Log in as a user in Django

django-sudo.py

from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
from django.contrib.auth import SESSION_KEY
from django import http
from django.contrib.auth.models import User
from django.contrib.auth.decorators import user_passes_test

@user_passes_test(lambda u: u.is_staff)
def su(request, username, redirect_url='/'):
    su_user = get_object_or_404(User, username=username)
    if su_user.is_active:
        request.session[SESSION_KEY] = su_user.id
        return http.HttpResponseRedirect(redirect_url)

# In urls.py
from django.conf.urls.defaults import url

urlpatterns += patterns('',
    url(r'^su/(?P<username>.*)/$', 'my_app.views.su', {'redirect_url': '/'}),
)