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hiro protagonist
Asked: 2019-03-14 09:22:52 +0800 CST

how to lock login terminal on a server

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is there a way to lock a login console of a server after a certain time of inactivity? just lock; not log the user out.

if found vlock (and physlock) that seems to do a decent job of locking the login session. but is there a way to invoke it after a given time of user inactivity? i only can invoke it right now and its timeout flag does not seem to do what i need.

this seems to be a way on how to do it in zsh; but i'd need something in bash.

also note: i am not concerned about ssh sessions. and this is about servers (without any X installed).

UPDATE i know about TMOUT. i do not want to log the user out, i just want to lock their screen.

(also posted the question over at serverfault.com)

server command-line bash login lock-screen

1 Answers

  1. You can append the following line to ~/.bashrc or /etc/bash.bashrc (to apply it for all user):

    TMOUT=120

    Then source ~/.bashrc or open new login shell and after 120 seconds of inactivity it will be closed. Note the login shell could be a hardware TTY/console or ssh connection, or some GIU terminal emulator as gnome-terminal, etc.

    Source:

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