loader and password

D

donxc

I have tried to add password to boot sequence:
in loader.conf password="mysecret"

According to man page for loader.conf:

All settings have the following format:
variable="value"

and

password Provides a password to be required by check-password before
execution is allowed to continue.

When I do this and reboot, it bypasses menu screen altogether and boots automatically. I have beastie enabled.
This occurs on 6.4 and 7.1 systems both upgraded this week.

Am I missing something?
 
i dont have the answer to your question bc i genuinely dont know, but what about setting a bios passwd?
or maybe using geli to encrypt your system.
 
Really just want to know if I have messed this up or if there is a problem with the function.
 
donxc said:
Really just want to know if I have messed this up or if there is a problem with the function.
Click to expand...
I've tested it time ago on qemu. I can't remeber the version, probably the last 8.0 snapshot, and I saw the same.
 
How curious. I just tested it, and indeed, it skips the loader menu but never asks for a password.

Time to file a PR?
 
Ah, I missed that bit in the original post. Really? It doesn't ask for that password at all and continues straight on to multiuser boot? How curious.
 
DutchDaemon said:
Ah, I missed that bit in the original post. Really? It doesn't ask for that password at all and continues straight on to multiuser boot?
Click to expand...
That is correct.

I haven't used this since 4.(X) but it did work then.
 
It works fine for me on two FreeBSD 7 systems and a FreeBSD 6 system.

IIRC this feature does not work with the Beastie menu enabled, try disabling the beastie menu by adding:
Code: 
beastie_disable="YES"
To /boot/loader.conf

Note that the password is only asked when you want to enter the loader command prompt, not when booting the system without interruption.
 
Carpetsmoker said:
---

Note that the password is only asked when you want to enter the loader command prompt, not when booting the system without interruption.
Click to expand...

OK, I was misinterpreting the intention of password here.
Have some playing to do.

Thanks for the insight.
 
You can use the BIOS password.
You can also set `console' to `insecure' in /etc/ttys, root password will be asked when entering single user mode.
Also, you may have noticed FreeBSD asks for the password after startup ;)
 
Carpetsmoker said:
You can use the BIOS password.
You can also set `console' to `insecure' in /etc/ttys, root password will be asked when entering single user mode.
Also, you may have noticed FreeBSD asks for the password after startup ;)
Click to expand...
Hehe, you're right. So such a password to protect just the default startup would be senseless :D

I thought of a password for every bootoption...a password to enter the FreeBSD boot screen.
But I see, in this case the BIOS-password would have the same effect...
 
Note that none of these options prevent someone from taking the hard drive out and reading your data off. You might consider using geli to prevent that.
 
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