Using with Linux Mint

[Rhiyo]

Hey there, I'm new to linux as you can probably tell by the distro I'm using.

I'm trying to use Howdy with Linux mint. I've got Howdy working with the IR cameras as I'm able to use commands and add new faces and test out the IR-Camera but I haven't been able to get it to actually work during sudo log in, the lock screen, or beginning of computer sign in.

I'm I supposed to integrate it myself using PAM somehow, or am is this related to using Linux Mint maybe?

I apologize if I've missed something obvious.

Thank you!

[boltgolt]

It should be enabled in PAM automatically, what does your common-auth file look like? (sudo cat /etc/pam.d/common-auth)

When Howdy encounters an error, it tends to fail silently because that's recommended for PAM. modules. You could check /var/log/auth.log for any errors?

[Rhiyo]

Here` is my common-auth file:

#
# /etc/pam.d/common-auth - authentication settings common to all services
#
# This file is included from other service-specific PAM config files,
# and should contain a list of the authentication modules that define
# the central authentication scheme for use on the system
# (e.g., /etc/shadow, LDAP, Kerberos, etc.).  The default is to use the
# traditional Unix authentication mechanisms.
#
# As of pam 1.0.1-6, this file is managed by pam-auth-update by default.
# To take advantage of this, it is recommended that you configure any
# local modules either before or after the default block, and use
# pam-auth-update to manage selection of other modules.  See
# pam-auth-update(8) for details.

# here are the per-package modules (the "Primary" block)
auth	[success=1 default=ignore]	pam_unix.so nullok_secure
# here's the fallback if no module succeeds
auth	requisite			pam_deny.so
# prime the stack with a positive return value if there isn't one already;
# this avoids us returning an error just because nothing sets a success code
# since the modules above will each just jump around
auth	required			pam_permit.so
# and here are more per-package modules (the "Additional" block)
auth	optional	pam_ecryptfs.so unwrap
auth	optional			pam_cap.so 
# end of pam-auth-update config

Here is my auth.log file.

It appears all references to howdy are when I was testing commands and not actually in authentication usage (I think, as the log lines are from a few days ago.)

Thanks for the reply!

[boltgolt]

It seems that Howdy didn't get inserted into common-auth during install, which is really weird. Do you recall being asked if the proposed changes to this file should be applied (during the apt install howdy command)?

Either way, try adding

auth	sufficient			pam_python.so /lib/security/howdy/pam.py

on the empty line between "# pam-auth-update(8) for details." and "# here are the per-package modules (the "Primary" block)". You can use nano (sudo nano /etc/pam.d/common-auth) for this if you didn't know already.

[Rhiyo]

Thanks, that worked! I don't remember having that option during install but I may have made a mistake. Now I have a different issue though, somehow it's using my normal camera instead of my IR camera. It originally was using my IR camera (I chose it correctly during set up and was able to see it working when using the test command.)

[boltgolt]

Are both the test command (sudo howdy test) as well as normal authenticating through Howdy (by using sudo for instance) using the wrong camera now?

[Rhiyo]

Yup, both are using the normal webcam camera. I'm using a Ryzen HP x360 Envy (13.3inch).

Also, it's currently not working on the lock screen. I have to go back to the user selection screen for it to start trying face recognition, Is that the intention? Sorry to bombard you with questions.

[boltgolt]

Try running sudo howdy config and changing the device id value (probably a number between 0 and 4) until you get the right camera. There are more sophisticated ways to determine which one is the IR camera, but trust me, this is a lot quicker.

As for the lock screen issue: If i recall correctly there is a permission issue sometimes. Could you try the steps in this comment?

[Rhiyo]

Everything appears to working fine now! Thankyou so much for all your help and this lovely tool!

[boltgolt]

You're welcome!