Porteus

Hello guys,

I run Porteus OS 5 through a bootable USB. I have created a save changes .bat file as per the instructions.

Then I changed the default passwords for guest and root user. The changed passwords are saved. But the system still automatically logs me in without prompting for password.

I have tried adding the cheatcode for no auto login (login=) but that doesn't work. That doesn't do anything actually.

Please help me.

Solution:
1. Use "login=" cheatcode in the porteus_xx.cfg file in the Porteus folder in your USB, if that works for you. Insert after save changes cheatcode. [DIDN'T WORK FOR ME] [BEWARE!! This is highly unsecured method of putting password. One can easily check the password in the cfg file from another OS using a simple notepad. All your passwords and cheatcodes everything can be changed from there before logging in to porteus.

2. Edit the /etc/slim.conf file to change the default password and disable auto-login. It will add new screen before your usual desktop loading screen. Solution by donald. It will not be the same screen that you see when you lock the system.

3. Put password on booting menu. Solution by benny. Will have to update porteus.cfg file with MENU PASSWD lines and also remove the TIMEOUT line in the starting. [BEWARE!! This is highly unsecured method of putting password. One can easily check the password in the cfg file from another OS using a simple notepad. All your passwords and cheatcodes everything can be changed from there before logging in to porteus.

meet wrote: ↑

31 Mar 2020, 17:39

Can anyone tell me, in non-technical language, what am I required to do to create users on the live-USB itself (to be run with save changes mode), so that wherever I login using this USB stick, it will ask me the user name and password to continue, or else I will have to start over with a fresh version in the boot menu.

An interesting option, but I have never heard of it being used with Porteus.

Ed_P wrote: ↑

31 Mar 2020, 19:39

meet wrote: ↑

31 Mar 2020, 17:39

Can anyone tell me, in non-technical language, what am I required to do to create users on the live-USB itself (to be run with save changes mode), so that wherever I login using this USB stick, it will ask me the user name and password to continue, or else I will have to start over with a fresh version in the boot menu.

An interesting option, but I have never heard of it being used with Porteus.

Hey.

I hope I made myself clear. It's about user creation, login profile.. I guess that's very basic of any OS, isn't it?

Or is it this way across all portal OS options, that one has to compulsorily use the guest login?

That will make the USB very unsecure if it gets in to wrong hands.

You could try the Porteus Kiosk system to see if that matches your security desires. I've never used it so I can't say if it would or wouldn't.

With regular Porteus you can have different users and specify which one you will boot to with cheatcodes in the porteus.cfg file but no prompt when booting ttbomk. Create a menu option to boot to root and see what happens.

meet wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2020, 08:07

.... very unsecure if it gets in to wrong hands.

..like anything else in the world.

However, you can change the default passwords and edit /etc/slim.conf
so that the system stops at a login screen and asks for a username and password.

hi meet, you can put a password on the syslinux prompt so only the owner can start to choose the boot line and login.

there is also the cheatcode(added to the APPEND line in porteus.cfg): login= which will stop booting at the login manager screen..

ncmprhnsbl wrote: ↑

02 Apr 2020, 01:45

there is also the cheatcode(added to the APPEND line in porteus.cfg): login= which will stop booting at the login manager screen..

This doesn't work for me. Don't understand why. Tried with everything - login=, login= , login="" - none of these work. Added it in porteus.cfg in boot folder by adding it to the end of the line starting with APPEND under GUI login option, as well as the porteus.cfg in porteus folder by adding it as a new line at the end of the file. Both didn't work.

beny wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2020, 19:31

hi meet, you can put a password on the syslinux prompt so only the owner can start to choose the boot line and login.

Hey, nice suggestion. Can you explain me what exactly is required to be done to put this password on syslinux prompt? Sorry, I am a newbie.

donald wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2020, 19:17

meet wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2020, 08:07

.... very unsecure if it gets in to wrong hands.

..like anything else in the world.

Well, everything else at least asks for a login and password. That's much much better than this directly logging guest in.

donald wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2020, 19:17

meet wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2020, 08:07

.... very unsecure if it gets in to wrong hands.

However, you can change the default passwords and edit /etc/slim.conf
so that the system stops at a login screen and asks for a username and password.

Hey this actually worked. Now I get a different login screen, not the one that appears when I lock the system after logging in (which is more beautiful than this one.) But this serves the purpose. Thank you.

P.s. Just for others who might stumble on to this post, the solution to edit slim.conf will slow your boot speed a bit, only a bit. But it works by adding a login screen (two prompts each for username and password) and then actually going and loading your desktop, for me KDE.

hi meet, here a link: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Syslinux#Security

Hey guys. I thought of an idea.

Is there a way to run a script immediately upon logging in?
I was thinking to run a script to lock the PC immediately it loads up the desktop environment. This will eventually require the user to enter the password for login again, and he won't be able to use the OS on USB without my permission.

Also, please inform me if such scripts can be avoided through any other way.

This is to speed up the boot process. Changing the slim.conf file worked. But has slowed down the boot so much. Almost an extra 5 minutes. Time to enter credentials another extra.

beny wrote: ↑

06 Apr 2020, 18:03

hi meet, here a link: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Syslinux#Security

I put the required MENU PASSWD argument in the said file. And wrote my password after that. However, I have not got any password prompt anywhere during the booting. It restarted / booted just like it used to earlier. Can you help me with this?

@meet
There is only one line in syslinux.cfg - INCLUDE porteus.cfg -
that tells me that I should look at that one, right?

donald wrote: ↑

08 Apr 2020, 22:34

@meet
There is only one line in syslinux.cfg - INCLUDE porteus.cfg -
that tells me that I should look at that one, right?

Haha. Yeah. It wasn't that obvious for me. The link said update syslinux so I put that command below the include line.
It should have said update porteus.cfg file it that is what was required to update.

And yeah, after adding that - adding "MENU MASTER PASSWD mypassword" and "MENU PASSWD mypassword" to the porteus file, it still doesn't ask me any password on boot.

Did I miss something again here?

meet wrote: ↑

09 Apr 2020, 09:20

Did I miss something again here?

Yep
You will notice that "TIMEOUT 90" has been removed
if you look closely at what is in the spoiler.

donald wrote: ↑

09 Apr 2020, 12:52

meet wrote: ↑

09 Apr 2020, 09:20

Did I miss something again here?

Yep
You will notice that "TIMEOUT 90" has been removed
if you look closely at what is in the spoiler.

Sorry. I don't understand. Along with TIMEOUT 90 there are a lot of lines that are not there in the spoiler. Should I delete all the lines except those written in the spoiler?

Hey Donald.
Thanks this works now. Removed that timeout line too. Thank you again.