Locking with USB drive [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Lock and Unlock from USB disk (pendrive)

When i use Windows, there is a program I use called Predator that locks my PC when I remove a certain USB flash drive. It then unlocks the computer when I reinsert it.

Is there any program like this for Ubuntu?

Answer 1

Well, a module called PAM (Pluggable Authentication module) can be customized to achieve your need. A beautiful article is available on linuxconfig describing this in detail.

The steps are:

1. Install PAM

   $ sudo apt-get install pamusb-tools libpam-usb
   

2. Add USB device to PAM config

   $ sudo pamusb-conf --add-device <my-usb-stick>
   

3. Select your volume and "Y" to save

4. Define user for PAM auth

   $ sudo pamusb-conf --add-user <ubuntu-user>
   

5. Select and "Y" to save

6. Configure PAM

   $ sudo gedit /etc/pam.d/common-auth
   

7. Add the line below and save

   auth    sufficient      pam_usb.so
   

8. Test the PAM auth

   $ su ubuntu-user
   

9. Lock when disconnected

   $ sudo gedit /etc/pamusb.conf
   

10. Modify the block "user" block to look like:

    <user id="ubuntu-user"> 
          <device> 
                  my-usb-stick 
          </device> 
          <agent event="lock">gnome-screensaver-command -l</agent> 
          <agent event="unlock">gnome-screensaver-command -d</agent> 
     </user>*
    

cuttlefish could be one solution to do it as @maythux suggested. I really can't comment on its capabilities, I prefer to stay away from 3rd party apps as much as possible.

Answer 2

Don't know of any program but you can create a simple script that can do that like in this example:

http://www.techienote.com/2011/03/lock-unlock-ubuntu-desktop-using-usb-drive.html

Answer 3

You can use cuttlefish

It does what you need plus more advanced options see this link to learn about