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linuxembedded-linuxyocto

Adding "libpam" to initramfs recipe removes password from "extrausers" config

I am setting root password for my linux using the following in local.conf file:

INHERIT += "extrausers"
EXTRA_USERS_PARAMS = "usermod -p '\$6\$...'"

This works correctly, as expected.

But now, I found that in linux 5.10, to authenticate a user, I cannot check /etc/shadow, instead I need to use the libpam module. So, I did the following to add libpam to my linux image:

  • In my intramfs recipe I added libpam to PACKAGE_INSTALL.
  • Added pam in DISTRO_FEATURES_append

Now, when I flash this new image, the root user does not have any password. Adding libpam is somehow removing the password set using extrausers... Is there a way to set the password in the image using libpam? Or is there something I am doing wrong when using extrausers and adding libpam to my image?

Solution

  • Since I couldn't get an answer here and on github issues of libpam I gave up trying to make libpam work for me.

    I decided to use the /etc/shadow file. I removed extrausers and instead set the password manually into the shadow file using the following:

    ROOTFS_POSTINSTALL_COMMAND += "set_root_password;"
set_root_password () {
    sed -e "s/root::/root:\$6\$...:/" -i ${IMAGE_ROOTFS}/etc/shadow
}

    Now I don't need to use libpam and can keep authenticating users to my redfish server using the shadow file.