[BBLISA] screen locking - pam and xscreensaver

[John Stoffel]

Scott> For an out-of-box Centos install that utilizes PAM for
Scott> xscreensaver within both gnome and kde, what factors would lead
Scott> to xscreensaver not being able to properly unlock the user?  I
Scott> reviewed the logs and nothing helped.

Just to confirm, the system booted up, you logged in as yourself, and
then used 'xscreensaver' to lock the screen, correct?  

Now, when you type your password in, it won't let you back in, correct?

Scott> I performed ldd on xscreensaver and an ls -l on each dependency
Scott> proved they were all there.

If they weren't there, it wouldn't run really.  

Scott> The system uses local /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files for
Scott> authentication - no NIS or LDAP or Kerberos.

Ok, that simplifies things.  Have you confirmed that if you ssh into
the system and *change* your password of the locked account, that new
password doesn't work as well?

Scott> If Xwindows was to be disabled, and only tty was used, what
Scott> would be the best option for ensuring the logged-in session was
Scott> locked after a determined amount of inactivity>

I would use 'screen' and lock it when I left.  Excellent program.  The
default way to lock is C-ax (Control-A x) and then your password to
unlock.  Now since I'm a heavy emacs user, I've rebound it to C-t
instead, since C-a means beginning of line.  

Scott> Also, if the user stepped away from the system and wanted to
Scott> manually lock it, what is the best tty screen-locking utility?

screen.  

Scott> I reviewed vlock, but after prompting me for my password, it
Scott> then prompted for root's.  That was less than helpful.

That's strange, but I'm also not familiar with that tool.  

Good luck.
John