README
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2
3 VV VV LL OOO CCCCC KK KK
4 VV VV LL OO OO CC KK KK originally written by
5 VV VV LL OO OO CC KK Michael K. Johnson
6 VV VV LL OO OO CC KK KK for Linux Journal
7 VVV LLLLLLLL OOO CCCCC KK KK
8
9
10This is vlock, the Linux _V_irtual Console locking program. It allows
11you to lock one or all of the sessions of your Linux console display.
12
13Usage is very simple; by default, vlock locks the single console or
14terminal you are on. If you want to lock the console completely so that
15no one else can log into any of the virtual consoles (perhaps because
16you have login sessions running on several other virtual consoles at the
17same time), you use the -a or --all flag to cause vlock to not allow any
18user to switch to any console without typing your password.
19
20 WARNING: If you lock all the consoles, they will be *really*
21 locked. Unless you have a serial terminal, or can log in
22 remotely to kill vlock, you *will not* be able to get back to
23 your terminal session without correct authentication.
24
25 After a new installation always test vlock in a terminal to
26 verify that authentication is set up correctly.
27
28 If you loose data because you have to reset your computer
29 because of vlock -a, it is your own problem, not mine. I
30 warned you.
31
32The root user will *always* be able to unlock any vlock session, unless
33disabled at compile time.
34
35vlock consists of several plugins. Some of them are potentially
36dangerous and access to them should be restricted. Please refer to
37SECURITY for a detailed description.
38
39"vlock -h" or "vlock --help" will get you a help message.
40
41To make vlock switch to a new console before locking, use the -n or
42--new flag. If installed with proper permissions this even works from
43an X11 session. The -n flag implies -a and thus all warnings about -a
44also apply to -n.
45
46vlock is maintained by Frank Benkstein <frank-vlock@benkstein.net>.
47
README.X11
1Although vlock is primarily designed to lock the text console of a machine it
2is also possible to use it from X. Using the "--new" option vlock will switch
3to an empty virtual terminal and then lock the display by preventing console
4switching entirely. After successful authentication it switches back to the
5virtual terminal that was active when vlock was started, i.e. your X session,
6when started from X.
7