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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"

"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">

<refentry id="systemd-ask-password"

xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">

<refentryinfo>

<title>systemd-ask-password</title>

<productname>systemd</productname>

<authorgroup>

<author>

<contrib>Developer</contrib>

<firstname>Lennart</firstname>

<surname>Poettering</surname>

<email>lennart@poettering.net</email>

</author>

</authorgroup>

</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

query the password system-wide and allow active users

to respond via several agents. The latter is

only available to privileged processes.</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: a boot-time password agent

asking the user for passwords using Plymouth; a

boot-time password agent querying the user directly on

the console; an agent requesting password input via a

<citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>wall</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>

message; an agent suitable for running in a GNOME

session; a command line agent which can be started

temporarily to process queued password requests; a TTY

agent that is temporarily spawned during

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>

invocations.</para>

<para>Additional password agents may be implemented

according to the <ulink

url="http://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>--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 typed in.</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>

<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>systemctl</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>