CHECK-PASSWORD.4TH(8)

NAME
check-password.4th - FreeBSD password-checking boot module

DESCRIPTION
The file that goes by the name of check-password.4th is a set of commands designed to prevent booting without the proper password. The commands of check-password.4th by themselves are not enough for most uses. Please refer to the examples below for the most common situations, and to loader(8) for additional commands.

Before using any of the commands provided in check-password.4th, it must be included through the command:

    include check-password.4th

This line is present in /boot/loader.4th file, so it is not needed (and should not be re-issued) in a normal setup.

The commands provided by it are:

check-password
    Once called, the user cannot continue until the correct password is entered. If the user enters the correct password the function returns.

    The password that is required is configured by setting the password variable in loader.conf(5).

    Subsequent calls after a successful password has been entered will not cause reprompting — the function will silently return.

The environment variables that effect its behavior are:

password
    Sets the password (up to 16 characters long) that is required by check-password to be entered before the system is allowed to boot. If unset (default) or NULL, check-password will silently abort.

FILES
/boot/loader
    The loader(8).
/boot/check-password.4th
    check-password.4th itself.
/boot/loader.rc
    loader(8) bootstrapping script.

EXAMPLES
Standard i386 /boot/loader.rc:

    include /boot/loader.4th
    check-password

Set a password in loader.conf(5):

    password="abc123"

SEE ALSO
loader.conf(5), loader(8), loader.4th(8)

HISTORY
The check-password.4th set of commands first appeared in FreeBSD 9.0.

AUTHORS
The check-password.4th set of commands was written by -nosplit Devin Teske <devinteske@hotmail.com>.