# systemd-ask-password

## NAME



           systemd-ask-password - Query the user for a system password
    


## SYNOPSIS



    
           **systemd-ask-password**[OPTIONS...] [MESSAGE]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           **systemd-ask-password** may be used to query a password or passphrase
           interactively from the user, using a question prompt 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 **--no-tty** it will use a system-wide or per-user agent-based
           query mechanism, which allows active users to respond via several
           agents, listed below.
    
           The purpose of this tool is to query system-wide or per-user
           passwords — the former includes passwords possibly not associated
           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.
    
           Existing system-level agents are:
    
           •   A boot-time password agent asking the user for passwords using
               **plymouth**(8),
    
           •   A boot-time password agent querying the user directly on the
               console — systemd-ask-password-console.service(8),
    
           •   An agent requesting password input via a wall(1) message —
               systemd-ask-password-wall.service(8),
    
           •   A TTY agent that is temporarily spawned during systemctl(1)
               invocations,
    
           •   A command line agent which can be started temporarily to
               process queued password requests —
               **systemd-tty-ask-password-agent --query**.
    
           Answering system-wide password queries is a privileged operation,
           hence all the agents listed above (except for the last one), run
           as privileged system services. The last one also needs elevated
           privileges, so should be run through run0(1) or similar.
    
           Additional password agents may be implemented according to the
           **systemd Password Agent Specification******[1].
    
           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.


## OPTIONS



           The following options are understood:
    
           **--icon=**
               Specify an icon name alongside the password query, which may
               be used in all agents supporting graphical display. The icon
               name should follow the **XDG Icon Naming Specification******[2].**--id=**
               Specify an identifier for this password query. This identifier
               is freely choosable and allows recognition of queries by
               involved agents. It should include the subsystem doing the
               query and the specific object the query is done for. Example:
               "--id=cryptsetup:/dev/sda5".
    
               Added in version 227.
    
           **--keyname=**
               Configure a kernel keyring key name to use as cache for the
               password. If set, then the tool will try to push any collected
               passwords into the kernel keyring of the root user, as a key
               of the specified name. If combined with **--accept-cached** , it
               will also try to retrieve such cached passwords from the key
               in the kernel keyring instead of querying the user right away.
               By using this option, the kernel keyring may be used as
               effective cache to avoid repeatedly asking users for
               passwords, if there are multiple objects that may be unlocked
               with the same password. The cached key will have a timeout of
               2.5min set, after which it will be purged from the kernel
               keyring. Note that it is possible to cache multiple passwords
               under the same keyname, in which case they will be stored as
               **NUL** -separated list of passwords. Use keyctl(1) to access the
               cached key via the kernel keyring directly. Example:
               "--keyname=cryptsetup"
    
               Added in version 227.
    
           **--credential=**
               Configure a credential to read the password from – if it
               exists. This may be used in conjunction with the
               _ImportCredential=_ , _LoadCredential=_ and _SetCredential=_ settings
               in unit files. See systemd.exec(5) for details. If not
               specified, defaults to "password". This option has no effect
               if no credentials directory is passed to the program (i.e.
               _$CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY_ is not set) or if the no credential of
               the specified name exists.
    
               Added in version 249.
    
           **--timeout=**
               Specify the query timeout in seconds. Defaults to 90s. A
               timeout of 0 waits indefinitely.
    
           **--echo=yes|no|masked**
               Controls whether to echo user input. Takes a boolean or the
               special string "masked", the default being the latter. If
               enabled the typed characters are echoed literally, which is
               useful for prompting for usernames and other non-protected
               data. If disabled the typed characters are not echoed in any
               form, the user will not get feedback on their input. If set to
               "masked", an asterisk ("*") is echoed for each character
               typed. In this mode, if the user hits the tabulator key ("↹"),
               echo is turned off. (Alternatively, if the user hits the
               backspace key ("⌫") while no data has been entered otherwise,
               echo is turned off, too).
    
               Added in version 249.
    
           **--echo** , **-e**
               Equivalent to **--echo=yes** , see above.
    
               Added in version 217.
    
           **--emoji=yes|no|auto**
               Controls whether or not to prefix the query with a lock and
               key emoji (🔐), if the TTY settings permit this. The default
               is "auto", which defaults to "yes", unless **--echo=yes** is
               given.
    
               Added in version 249.
    
           **--no-tty**
               Never ask for password on current TTY even if one is
               available. Always use agent system.
    
           **--accept-cached**
               If passed, accept cached passwords, i.e. passwords previously
               entered.
    
           **--multiple**
               When used in conjunction with **--accept-cached** accept multiple
               passwords. This will output one password per line.
    
           **--no-output**
               Do not print passwords to standard output. This is useful if
               you want to store a password in kernel keyring with **--keyname=**
               but do not want it to show up on screen or in logs.
    
               Added in version 230.
    
           **-n**
               By default, when the acquired password is written to standard
               output it is suffixed by a newline character. This may be
               turned off with the **-n** switch, similarly to the switch of the
               same name of the echo(1) command.
    
               Added in version 249.
    
           **--user** , **--system**
               Controls whether to query the system-wide or the per-user
               password agents. By default if invoked privileged the
               system-wide agents are queried, otherwise the per-user ones.
               These options allow one to override this automatic behaviour.
    
               Added in version 257.
    
           **-h** , **--help**
               Print a short help text and exit.
    


## EXIT STATUS



           On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.
    


## NOTES



            1. systemd Password Agent Specification
               https://systemd.io/PASSWORD_AGENTS/
    
            2. XDG Icon Naming Specification
               https://standards.freedesktop.org/icon-naming-spec/icon-naming-spec-latest.html
    


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