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authorDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-05-06 02:25:50 +0000
committerDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-05-06 02:25:50 +0000
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Adding upstream version 241.upstream/241upstream
Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>
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+<?xml version='1.0'?>
+<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
+ "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
+
+<!--
+ SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
+-->
+
+<refentry id="systemd-ask-password"
+ xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
+
+ <refentryinfo>
+ <title>systemd-ask-password</title>
+ <productname>systemd</productname>
+ </refentryinfo>
+
+ <refmeta>
+ <refentrytitle>systemd-ask-password</refentrytitle>
+ <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
+ </refmeta>
+
+ <refnamediv>
+ <refname>systemd-ask-password</refname>
+ <refpurpose>Query the user for a system password</refpurpose>
+ </refnamediv>
+
+ <refsynopsisdiv>
+ <cmdsynopsis>
+ <command>systemd-ask-password <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg> <arg choice="opt">MESSAGE</arg></command>
+ </cmdsynopsis>
+ </refsynopsisdiv>
+
+ <refsect1>
+ <title>Description</title>
+
+ <para><command>systemd-ask-password</command> may be used to query
+ a system password or passphrase from the user, using a question
+ message specified on the command line. When run from a TTY it will
+ query a password on the TTY and print it to standard output. When
+ run with no TTY or with <option>--no-tty</option> it will use the
+ system-wide query mechanism, which allows active users to respond via
+ several agents, listed below.</para>
+
+ <para>The purpose of this tool is to query system-wide passwords
+ — that is passwords not attached to a specific user account.
+ Examples include: unlocking encrypted hard disks when they are
+ plugged in or at boot, entering an SSL certificate passphrase for
+ web and VPN servers.</para>
+
+ <para>Existing agents are:
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem><para>A boot-time password agent asking the user for
+ passwords using
+ <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>plymouth</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ </para></listitem>
+
+ <listitem><para>A boot-time password agent querying the user
+ directly on the console —
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-ask-password-console.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ </para></listitem>
+
+ <listitem><para>An agent requesting password input via a
+ <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>wall</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ message —
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-ask-password-wall.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ </para></listitem>
+
+ <listitem><para>A TTY agent that is temporarily spawned during
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ invocations,</para></listitem>
+
+ <listitem><para>A command line agent which can be started
+ temporarily to process queued password
+ requests — <command>systemd-tty-ask-password-agent --query</command>.
+ </para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist></para>
+
+ <para>Answering system-wide password queries is a privileged operation, hence
+ all the agents listed above (except for the last one), run as privileged
+ system services. The last one also needs elevated privileges, so
+ should be run through
+ <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>sudo</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ or similar.</para>
+
+ <para>Additional password agents may be implemented according to
+ the <ulink
+ url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/PasswordAgents">systemd
+ Password Agent Specification</ulink>.</para>
+
+ <para>If a password is queried on a TTY, the user may press TAB to
+ hide the asterisks normally shown for each character typed.
+ Pressing Backspace as first key achieves the same effect.</para>
+
+ </refsect1>
+
+ <refsect1>
+ <title>Options</title>
+
+ <para>The following options are understood:</para>
+
+ <variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--icon=</option></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Specify an icon name alongside the password
+ query, which may be used in all agents supporting graphical
+ display. The icon name should follow the <ulink
+ url="http://standards.freedesktop.org/icon-naming-spec/icon-naming-spec-latest.html">XDG
+ Icon Naming Specification</ulink>.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--id=</option></term>
+ <listitem><para>Specify an identifier for this password
+ query. This identifier is freely choosable and allows
+ recognition of queries by involved agents. It should include
+ the subsystem doing the query and the specific object the
+ query is done for. Example:
+ <literal>--id=cryptsetup:/dev/sda5</literal>.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--keyname=</option></term>
+ <listitem><para>Configure a kernel keyring key name to use as
+ cache for the password. If set, then the tool will try to push
+ any collected passwords into the kernel keyring of the root
+ user, as a key of the specified name. If combined with
+ <option>--accept-cached</option>, it will also try to retrieve
+ such cached passwords from the key in the kernel keyring
+ instead of querying the user right away. By using this option,
+ the kernel keyring may be used as effective cache to avoid
+ repeatedly asking users for passwords, if there are multiple
+ objects that may be unlocked with the same password. The
+ cached key will have a timeout of 2.5min set, after which it
+ will be purged from the kernel keyring. Note that it is
+ possible to cache multiple passwords under the same keyname,
+ in which case they will be stored as NUL-separated list of
+ passwords. Use
+ <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>keyctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ to access the cached key via the kernel keyring
+ directly. Example: <literal>--keyname=cryptsetup</literal></para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--timeout=</option></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Specify the query timeout in seconds. Defaults
+ to 90s. A timeout of 0 waits indefinitely. </para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--echo</option></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Echo the user input instead of masking it.
+ This is useful when using
+ <filename>systemd-ask-password</filename> to query for
+ usernames. </para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--no-tty</option></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Never ask for password on current TTY even if
+ one is available. Always use agent system.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--accept-cached</option></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>If passed, accept cached passwords, i.e.
+ passwords previously entered.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--multiple</option></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>When used in conjunction with
+ <option>--accept-cached</option> accept multiple passwords.
+ This will output one password per line.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><option>--no-output</option></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Do not print passwords to standard output.
+ This is useful if you want to store a password in kernel
+ keyring with <option>--keyname</option> but do not want it
+ to show up on screen or in logs.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="help" />
+ </variablelist>
+
+ </refsect1>
+
+ <refsect1>
+ <title>Exit status</title>
+
+ <para>On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code
+ otherwise.</para>
+ </refsect1>
+
+ <refsect1>
+ <title>See Also</title>
+ <para>
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-ask-password-console.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tty-ask-password-agent</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>keyctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>plymouth</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>wall</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ </para>
+ </refsect1>
+
+</refentry>