I'm working in an environment where most workstations (all running Linux) are configured to require a password for access on powerup or reboot. The User is set individually for each workstation to bypass the nuisance of entering it daily. There are also a few NAS servers similarly configured.

I seldom see any of them, but when I do it's inevitably in the context of 'logout ... login as tech ... do the dirty ... reboot ... bypass autologin ... login as tech ... do the ...' So. Quite familiar to many reading this, I'd guess.

What I'm wanting is a setup where I can go to a machine, insert a USB memory stick containing a file with a 'security code' (a UUID for example) and hit reboot. I'm then auto-logged-in as 'tech' without all of the tedium.

Is anything like this available? Or is anyone interested in swapping info as to how to accomplish it?

If this is a normal user account/password, research logging in with a USB token, e.g. https://linuxconfig.org/linux-authen...ith-usb-device (found with a web search).

If you are talking about a Grub password, I doubt this is possible without some additional development in the Grub project.

If it's something else, there is not enough information to make suggestions.

Thanks for the link - looks promising. It's many years since I worked at this level, back when I was using Gentoo, which is a great way to learn the deep details of Linux. I've never investigated PAM, but this looks like the first step.

I don't know if your organization's governance has laid out a more hardware-intensive security requirement than this, but I've been using a regular SanDisk Cruzer with kernel partition on the stick for my two laptops and one desktop, configured with a fully encrypted drive to either boot into USB or fall through to a black screen when the computer starts. Just an idea, and a thought.

Thanks RickDeckard. Yes, a different method with a novel security approach.