Questions tagged [policykit]
Now called polkit, it's an OS component for controlling system-wide privileges in Unix-like operating systems.
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When to use pkexec vs. gksu/gksudo?
There are two general ways to run applications graphically as root (or, more generally, as another user). Programs like gksu, gksudo, and kdesudo are graphical frontends for sudo. In contrast, pkexec ...
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5
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How can I set the Software Center to install software for non-root users?
How can I set the Software Center to allow non-root users to install stuff from the Ubuntu repos without having to type in their password?
I'm fully aware of the security implications, and I am ...
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votes
2
answers
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How do I prevent PolicyKit from asking for a password?
For years, I've had the following in my sudoers file:
scott ALL=NOPASSWD: ALL
For those who don't know, this prevents sudo and friends (gksudo, etc.) from asking for a password. However, over the ...
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34
votes
2
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/etc/sudoers file corrupted and I can't run 'pkexec visudo' over SSH
Following the instruction here I get:
pkexec visudo
==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.freedesktop.policykit.exec ===
Authentication is needed to run `/usr/sbin/visudo' as the super user
Authenticating as: ...
31
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2
answers
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Authentication required before suspend
Since the last update of Ubuntu 14.04, when I press the sleep button in my laptop, a pop-up window appears with "Authentication is required for suspending the system".
Password is not requested when ...
- 1,008
29
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1
answer
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How to know if a authenticate box is real or fake?
For example, someone creates a fake Authenticate dialog to get my root password. How to know if it is real or fake?
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23
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4
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Seemingly random "Authentication is required to change your own user data"
Ever since I upgraded to 14.10 I get a strange behavior on my desktop. I get popups claiming "Authentication is required to change your own user data" and a prompt for my password. It happens at ...
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What is the most "Ubuntu" way of preventing certain users from shutting down, suspending etc?
On a traditional Unix system, non-root users cannot do this. What is it that gives users this ability in modern desktop environments and how would I go about disabling this on a per-user or per-group ...
- 37k
18
votes
3
answers
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PolicyKit rules never come into effect
I'm trying to write a new .rules file for PolicyKit. My test attempt (in the directory /etc/polkit-1/rules.d/) looks like this:
polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {
polkit.spawn(["rm","/...
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18
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3
answers
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How do I set the policy for users to modify the network state and connections?
How can I set the permissions for users to make changes to the network connections and state? For instance, how can I allow/disallow users to connect to new wireless networks? How can I allow/disallow ...
- 3,751
17
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answers
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Hibernate missing in login screen
Re-enabling hibernation by adding a rule to policy kit added the option to hibernate to the desktop session as expected, but not for the login screen.
How can I enable hibernation right from the ...
- 1,951
17
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4
answers
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Fingerprint GUI not installing in Ubuntu 20.04
I'm trying to install fingerprint-gui on my Lenovo Ideapad 520 having Ubuntu 20.04 on which fingerprint isn't working for now.
I tried going directly to Settings → Users → Automatic login and enabled ...
- 315
17
votes
7
answers
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How to prevent system applications (like the Software Center) from asking for password?
I'd like Software Center, Update Manager and some other system management applications to work without asking for password (like sudo does if configured with NOPASSWD) but only asking for a ...
- 57.5k
14
votes
1
answer
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Disable authentication prompts in 15.04?
I'd like to know how I can disable the authentication prompts when opening apps such as Synaptic, mounting disks and so.
I got my user as passwordless set in sudoers, but seems the change to systemd ...
- 143
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What is the name of the security concept that explains why Linux asks for root password?
Whenever I'm installing new software or making changes to the system, Linux asks for the root password.
What is the name of this security concept and where can I research more information about it?
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How to get GUI sudo password prompt without command line?
Currently, for all my commands that require root access, I have to type them out on a command line.
I would like for the GUI to prompt me to key in my password, when sudo is required, instead of ...
- 121
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2
answers
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How can non-admin users connect to Wi-Fi networks?
I'm trying to configure PolicyKit so that other users are allowed to configure Wi-Fi connections, but my changes don't seem to bring any results at all.
When a non-admin user tries to connect to a ...
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1
answer
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How to disable shutdown/reboot from lightdm in 14.04?
In 12.04 it was possible to prevent system shutdown or reboot from the login screen by adding the following restrictions in /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d (adapted from here):
[Disable ...
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10
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1
answer
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Root tasks using dbus and policykit
At some point my application needs to do administrative tasks like creating a file in /etc or running commands with root priveleges.
I know just could do a Q&D:
os.popen("pkexec foo bar")
But I ...
- 121
8
votes
1
answer
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How does Firefox update itself without asking for root/sudo password?
How does Firefox update itself without asking for root/sudo password?
It's installed in /usr, where regular users don't have write permissions, and neither /usr/bin/firefox, nor any files in /usr/lib/...
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1
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How to disable the password prompts?
I've have Ubuntu 15.04 on my laptop and just about everything I do requires me to enter my password.
What do I have to do so I don't have to keep entering my password?
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3
answers
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pkexec won't launch polkit GUI in Lubuntu / LXDE
I performed a fresh install of Lubuntu 12.04 with minimal desktop, as described here.
To clarify, I did a command-line install from the Lubuntu alternative install disc, then I did an apt-get install ...
- 433
8
votes
3
answers
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Polkit pkla rule is not working on 18.04
I have troubles with infamous colord policy prompts on Gnome 3.28.1. With XFCE desktop on the same system I have no such problem.
I work via xrdp and always get this prompt and I cannot disable it.
...
- 268
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2
answers
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Allow user to upgrade installed packages
My users don't have administrative privileges. I don't allow them to install packages from Ubuntu repositories but they must be able to install all updates availables from Ubuntu repositories and my ...
- 253
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0
answers
2k
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GUI editor for polkit?
Searching for GUI and polkit (with or without "editor") only give me lots of links to authentication agents. But on my travels I found a screenshot showing just what I was looking for:
What is this ...
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1
answer
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By default, who is allowed to gain root privileges with pkexec?
I learned today that one can use pkexec from the command line, in a manner similar to sudo, to execute programs with root privileges. I am curious how pkexec decides who is allowed to do this.
The ...
- 854
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0
answers
1k
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How do I allow a group to manage a systemd service using polkit?
I have a service (some-service) on my system that I'd like to allow members of group managers to control (start, stop, restart). I would also allow these users to use PolicyKit instead of sudo for ...
- 34.2k
6
votes
3
answers
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Authentication agent and i3wm
How does one turn on an authentication agent like Polkit when using the i3 window manager? I would like to get a password prompt whenever I try to launch an application that requires certain root ...
- 459
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votes
1
answer
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Can I remove policy kit?
On every desktop startup, I have a dialog asking for password. The cause is policy kit.
I haven't found what exactly is raising the prompt, but it brings me to the question:
Do I need policy kit? If ...
- 4,026
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answers
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How to see what pkaction a software uses
So, I have one software that always asks for password when starting. And I want to run this software without this gksu password prompt popping up everytime.
The first thing I tried was adding its ...
- 829
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2
answers
2k
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How to make the disk utility ask for password before making modifications?
Currently, I can right click any drive that is attached to the system and click format. No password is asked at all while the data is wiped. I can also format any drive from the disk utility. This ...
- 1,005
5
votes
4
answers
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How to make Ubuntu ask for password when mounting partitions?
I have been through this kind of feature in older versions of Ubuntu. When I'd like to mount a partition it will ask me a password. Now I want to enable that kind of feature in Ubuntu 12.04.
How can ...
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5
votes
2
answers
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Double query for password when waken up
When I turn on my laptop from sleep, I have to input my password twice.
Once there is a white rectangular window (reminds me of gnome) and then lighdm unlock screen.
When I dissable "Ask for password ...
- 1,273
5
votes
1
answer
613
views
What happened to the graphical PolicyKit settings?
Back in 8.04 or so, when PolicyKit was new, we had a GUI "browser" that enabled us to easily decide things like whether a user should be allowed to shutdown the system when other users were logged in ...
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5
votes
1
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polkit: disable all users except those in group wheel?
Is it possible to do the following using 1 polkit .pkla file?
Disable all users except those in the wheel group from using polkit.
The users in the wheel group will need to provide the root password ...
- 53
5
votes
1
answer
4k
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Not authorized to perform operation (polkit authority not available and caller is not uid 0) (udisks-error-quark,3)
I've a Dell Precision Ultra-Speed Drive Quad x16 card installed in Dell 5820 workstation in which 4 x ADATA 2TB NVMe SSD drives. Besides, 1 x Toshiba 2TB NVMe SSD drive (Ubuntu 18.04 boot) and 2 x ...
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votes
1
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Can't update flatpak: »Flatpak system operation Deploy not allowed for user«
I have some problems trying to update my flatpaks. I have several applications installed via flatpak (system wide) and from time to time I am updating all of them with the command:
flatpak update -y
...
- 6,266
5
votes
0
answers
1k
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How to write a policykit/polkit permission file to programmatically have access to a file in /usr/share
I'm writing an application that needs to read and write an existing file in /usr/share...
If I understood well I need to use Polkit/PolicyKit to ask the system for a permission and ask the user to do ...
- 383
4
votes
1
answer
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What's going on with PolicyKit?
PolicyKit shipped in Ubuntu 20.04 has version 0.105 from 2012. Currently Fedora 33 ships version 0.116. I know there was a change in configuration files starting from version 0.106 (they became ...
- 658
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votes
1
answer
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Fingerprint-gui not installing in 20.04 [duplicate]
I tried the following but no use:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fingerprint/fingerprint-gui
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libbsapi policykit-1-fingerprint-gui fingerprint-gui
I got this error:
E: ...
- 53
4
votes
1
answer
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Software Center doesn't prompt for password
I'm using Ubuntu 10.10.
The software center was asking me for password when I wanted to install/remove any application. Since last week, it doesn't prompt for password. Also, I have the same problem ...
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1
answer
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How to prevent Synaptic Package Manager from asking for password?
This is similar to How to prevent system applications (like the Software Center) from asking for password? However that solution does not work for Synaptic Package Manager in 10.04.
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1
answer
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Ubuntu 18.04: No polkit authentication agent found
I get the error message above when I try to write to a file I don't have permission to in Visual Studio Code. I choose "Retry as sudo":
Click sudo
and get the error:
Error message
This only happens ...
- 141
4
votes
1
answer
308
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How can I let users in a particular group adjust CPU Frequency Scaling?
I'm trying to let members of the group labmembers adjust the CPU frequency scaling on a system using cpufreq-selector. However, by default, this is restricted to members of the admin group.
Per this ...
- 142
4
votes
1
answer
8k
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firewall-cmd error on polkit
I am trying to run firewall-cmd --list-all but i am receiving the response
Authorization failed Make sure polkit application is running
or run the application as superuser.
I can see that polkit is ...
- 61
4
votes
1
answer
4k
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polkit-graphical gui
I've recently installed Ubuntu Gnome 16.04, very nice, multiboot with Mate-mint, windows and occasionally hacintosh.
The thing which bothers me is that when it asks me password (gui) all other things ...
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2
answers
3k
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Configuring Polkit to allow complete control remotely
I have a headless server running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. It has been infuriating trying to deal with configuring various aspects of my server when I am not allowed to do so. Polkit has made the simple act ...
- 63
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0
answers
757
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Configure pkexec to only prompt for password once
When using sudo there is a timeout where you don't have to type the password again for x minutes when you run sudo again. Is it possible to get the same thing for graphical applications which use ...
- 363
4
votes
0
answers
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Require confirmation but not authentication before elevating
By default, many things that use polkit to run (like synaptic) will ask the user to reauthenticate before starting. I'd like to disable this reauthentication, but still get confirmation that the user ...
4
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0
answers
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Where is the KDE PolicyKit Authorization manager in Kubuntu? [closed]
In order to be able to answer this question, I was looking for a way to manage PolicyKit in KDE. Using Google I quickly ran into the KDE's official Authorization manager (mentioned here and here in ...
- 68.4k