"Lock session" programmatically?

Beginner

Sunday, January 13th 2008, 4:12pm

Hello. How can i lock session (black screen with password prompt) programmatically?
By DCOP?

My intent is to make this:
Computer boots, x-window starts automatically and user is logged-in automatically but the session becomes locked.
_benefits_ : Saves time, because the programs and kde would load automatically "in the background" ; without losing security due to auto-login.

Any hints on how to achieve this?

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karolrvn

Beginner

Posts: 7

2

Tuesday, January 22nd 2008, 12:45pm

RE: "Lock session" programmatically?

In "kdcop" there is

kdesktop / KDesktopIface

There is "void logout()" but it isn't useful for what i am trying to do.

I wonder why there are "so few" reponses to this thread.

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Ronald

Beginner

Posts: 13

Location: Netherlands

3

Tuesday, January 22nd 2008, 3:31pm

RE: "Lock session" programmatically?

I found this: http://blog.vrplumber.com/1408

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karolrvn

Beginner

Posts: 7

4

Tuesday, January 22nd 2008, 4:53pm

RE: "Lock session" programmatically?

Thanks. That's useful.
I tried searching for "lock" in kdcop but the search now turns out to be "shallow" (doesn't go into subbranches) and that's why i didn't find "lock".

Thanks again.

The next question is where should I put this command
/usr/bin/dcop --all-users --all-sessions kdesktop KScreensaverIface lock >> /home/karolrvn/adfadf/logs/xinitrc_log.txt

?
~/.xinitrc -> doesn't seem to work
~/.kdeinitrc -> is this for "scripts" also? Or only for "option=value"?

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Ronald

Beginner

Posts: 13

Location: Netherlands

5

Tuesday, January 22nd 2008, 8:51pm

Hi again! You should put that command in a .sh and save that file to ~/.kde/Autostart (chmod it executable for your user off course). I believe that works. One thing of concern would be that you don't know when KScreensaverIface becomes available in the starting process and that you don't know when the programs/links in that directory are being executed. So maybe you have to incorporate a pause, but that can easily be done with sleep

Hope this helps, I'm curious to see if it works.

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karolrvn

Beginner

Posts: 7

6

Tuesday, January 22nd 2008, 9:09pm

Thanks.

lockWorkstation script:

Source code

#!/bin/sh
logfiletxt=/home/karolrvn/adfadf/logs/lockWorkstation_log.txt

for ((i=0;i<15;i+=1)); do
date +%F_%H_%M_%S_%N >> $logfiletxt
echo "lockingWorkstation" >> $logfiletxt
/usr/bin/dcop --all-users --all-sessions kdesktop KScreensaverIface lock >> $logfiletxt
sleep 1
done

I run it in background from Autostart as You suggested (from another script). :
/home/karolrvn/adfadf/bin/lockWorkstation &

As You can see i run it 15 times with 1 second sleep, in background (&).

It works but there is a problem: there is a delay (about 3-5 seconds) between when the desktop shows and the session is locked which theoretically makes the desktop "vulnerable". Looks like a delay caused by general "traffic jam" on system startup ( many programs are starting simultanously ). I wanted to try "nice --adjustment=-19" but negative niceness is not permitted for normal users so i didn't persist.

Any more hints?
It would be nice to start the script _before_ KDE starts resuming session ( bringing back apps ).
Perhaps there is a way to do it X-Windows-way instead of KDE-way. This could perhaps be executed earlier.

PS
I wonder what is the purpose of ~/.xinitrc (maybe i got it wrong? or there is no such thing actually?) ; it does not seem to execute.

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Ronald

Beginner

Posts: 13

Location: Netherlands

7

Tuesday, January 22nd 2008, 10:17pm

I suspect your script is run last in the KDE start process and I'm afraid there is not much you can do about this fact. If you really want a full proof system, you could look into Xscreensaver. It surely starts during or before KDE starts and also is capable of locking the screen via a command (xscreensaver-command -lock).

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karolrvn

Beginner

Posts: 7

8

Wednesday, January 23rd 2008, 2:17pm

a script that runs when user logs into X

Maybe there is a script/place that executes when user _logs_ into X-window?
( xinitrc seems to be meant to be executed when x-window itself starts )

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Ronald

Beginner

Posts: 13

Location: Netherlands

9

Wednesday, January 23rd 2008, 6:28pm

I don't know such a script or place, but there might indeed

Point is that you cannot lock the KDE way because that way becomes available seconds after the desktop has appeared.

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karolrvn

Beginner

Posts: 7

10

Monday, January 28th 2008, 4:32pm

/etc/gdm/PostLogin/Default

I placed

	Source code
1	xlock -mode blank

in

	Source code
1	/etc/gdm/PostLogin/Default

But it runs as root ( works instantly but needs root password to unlock ).
Is there any similar place that would run as the user that logs in instead of root???

I tested some scripts in /etc/ , mostly /etc/gdm but some scripts don't run at all and others run as different users (root, gdm).

No "standard" script in home directory ( .xinitrc, .Xclients ) runs at all -> does anyone know why it's like this in Ubuntu?

Sorry that this is offtopic (non-KDE) but i decided to post my findings anyway.

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "karolrvn" (Jan 28th 2008, 4:34pm)