Default keyring: what is it and where is it?

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#1

Every time I start Evolution or try to get mail when Evolution is running, it asks for my default keyring password. Since I do not know what a default keyring is, I clearly do not have the password. I get past this step by clicking ‘deny’ - which seems to defeat the purpose of a password.

What is a keyring? What is the default keyring? Where is it? Who defines its password?

I saw that there was some discussion of this keyring in the forum about 18 months ago, suggesting a recompile of Evolution for OS 10.2. Is there some more convenient solution to this problem which does not require me to recompile an application?

#2

Instead of remembering one gazillion of user name/password combinations you can organize them in one or more so called keyrings. You will have to unlock the keyring once each time you login and then it will fill in all the passwords that it contains. You can even daisy chain keyrings so that one keyring unlocks another plus there is a keyring called ‘login’ that is unlocked automatically on login. Cool stuff. (See Control Center->Passwords and Encryption Keys for gnome and seahorse for reference.)

So far the theory. For some persons (including myself) the whole thing is a complete mess and just won’t do what it is intended to do. :mad:

#3

Documentation on keyring and Evolution for SLEx, it would also apply the
OpenSuSE:
http://www.novell.com/support/php/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=evolution20-evolution-data-encryptionhtml&sliceId=&docTypeID=DT_DOCUMENTATION_1_1&dialogID=47431742&stateId=0%200%2047433574

Are you sure it’s not asking you to SET a default password for the
keyring, rather than enter an existing PW? It wouldn’t ask you for a PW
that you’ve never had the opportunity to set.

Andrew C Taubman
Novell Support Forums Volunteer SysOp
http://forums.novell.com/
(Sorry, support is not provided via e-mail)

Opinions expressed above are not
necessarily those of Novell Inc.

#4

I don’t appear to have the Control Center->Passwords and Encryption Keys option on any of the 4 workstations I have installed openSUSE 11.0 (Gnome) onto, would this be because I unselcted Automatic Logon when I installed from the Gnome Live CD. Does this cause me any sort of problem?

#5

Well, no. Not as long as your computer does what you want it to do.

If you are curious, try and enter ‘seahorse’ on the console. (But take care not to change anything, at first. )

#6

Many thanks that gave me what I wanted to see.

#7

You ask a good question: the wording is ambiguous: words to the effect of " …keyring is locked … enter the password for the default keyring"

It can’t be asking me to set one because I’ve tried a number of different passwords (that for root and that for my user id). Since it asks for this password between 4 and 7 times when I start Evolution, it clearly is not satisfied with either of these. I have the option to ‘Deny’. That seems to work - until my next use of Evolution.

It’s frustrating having to do this every time and makes the security appear to be rather dumb (which I’m sure it’s not) - especially because I have taken to just closing that dialogue window with a mouse click as the fastest way forward.

But there must be a better way than this. What is it?