Webvnc and "locked keyring" (updated)

[twegner]

I have upgraded to amahi 5 and f12 fairly smoothly. (It sure is easier if /var/hda/files is mounted on a separate partition, as I had).

At the moment I have one minor problem. I have set the Amahi/Fedora box to auto login to facilitate access via WebVNC. When I try to connect with WebVNC after a boot of the Amahi box, I get the message on the Amahi box "Enter password for default keyring to unlock". I enter the password for the amahi auto login user, and then everything is OK, at least until the next boot. This defeats the idea of webvnc by requiring access to the Fedora beox in order to set up a remote desktop.

Google has turned up a fair bit on this, but so far no luck. Does anyone have a suggestion?

(later - edited on Dec 17) I found a work around, I would still like to know a better solution. There's a bit of discussion here:

http://www.pubbs.net/fedora/200911/55396/

I did the following on the Amahi box:

1. start seahorse (applications->accessories->passwords and encryption keys)
2. on passwords tab, right click Passwords: login,
3. click password
4. enter user password for "old password", leave new password blank, click change
5. you will get a warning about security, accept, and you are done

What this accomplishes is changing the keyring password from your user password to blank. This is insecure because anyone can see whatever passwords are managed by Seahorse from your desktop session. This allows me to start a Webvnc session without having to type the keyring password on the amahi box. Only have to do it once after booting, but it defeats the purpose of autologin.

I don't understand this fully. The way I am using amahi in my home I'm not too worried about the security issue, but I do wish there were a better solution. This looks to me like a bug. Perhaps someone can find a better solution.

Thanks,

Tim

[pjcrux]

I too am having this problem. Were you able to find a resolution?

[twegner]

I too am having this problem. Were you able to find a resolution?

Sorry for the delay, I didn't notice your question right away. I found a work-around, reread my original post starting with "(later - edited on Dec 17)". The password prompt is coming from the keyring. The workaround is to make the password blank. This sounds insecure, but in my case, I am not using the keyring for store any passwords, so I think it is OK.

The goal is to set up the Amahi box to autologin, so I can connect from another PC using WebVNC. The keyring password prompt defeats this, because I have to provide the keyring password *on the Amahi box itself* (I didn't make this clear in my original post). Making the keyring have a blank password "solves" the problem, or at least works around it. Looks to me like this is a true bug involving the keyring. I wish I understood it better. If anyone does, comments would be appreciated.

I am surprised more people haven't responded, because I would think this is a common problem. I really like accessing the complete GUI of my Amahi box from a PC, and until I found this work around, I couldn't. I guess if I left my Amahi box on 24/7 I would not have the problem, but I don't like to have it on just sucking power when I am not using it.

Glad to see at least one other person has seen the problem! Let us know if my workaround works for you, or if there is a better solution.

[NZmde]

I hit this problem too and found the following page to be useful:

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-349302.html

Removing the default.keyring file and then logging out / back in again fixed the problem for me.

[twegner]

I like NZmde's solution (delete default keyring) better than mine (have a blank keyring master password). I suggest anyone with this problem looking for a solution try deleting the default keyring first.

[cpg]

Great!

Could you document it in the WebVNC wiki page?

We're trying to encourage more participation by the community to enable the core team to do more things faster

[NZmde]

As suggested, I've added this to the Wiki page.

[cpg]

nicely put!

kudos for the contribution