pkcs11_eventmgr(1)

📦
version 0.6.13 · 2 versions
, in debian trixie, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 pkcs11_eventmgr(1) 💖

okay bestie, so this is pkcs11_eventmgr(1) — part of the PAM-pkcs11 tools family, and it's genuinely one of the most useful little gremlins in the whole suite. sit down, grab a strawberry 🍓, let's get into it.

✨ NAME ✨

pkcs11_eventmgr — the SmartCard PKCS#11 Event Manager, aka your card reader's personal hype-watcher 👑

🌈 SYNTAX 🌈

pkcs11_eventmgr [[no]debug] [[no]daemon] [polling_time=<secs> ]
[expire_time=<secs>] [pkcs11_module=<module> ] [config_file=<filename>]

no subcommands, no drama, just vibes and flags. periodt. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So card_eventmgr is a SmartCard Monitoring thing — it literally sits there and listens to the status of your card reader, and when stuff happens it dispatches actions. it's giving loyal bodyguard energy.

and like, card_eventmgr can be used to do several actions, for example locking your screen when the card gets removed. lowkey iconic. 🔥

there are three events it supports:

  • card insert
  • card removal
  • timeout on removed card

and the actions to take? those are specified in the configuration file. it doesn't just guess, bestie — you tell it what to do. 💖

🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

  • [no]debug — turns on debugging output. default is no debug (so, quiet girl mode 🙈).
  • [no]daemon — runs it in the background. and heads up: if debug is unset, it also detaches from the tty. default: no daemon.
  • polling_time=<secs> — sets the polling timeout, in secs. defaults to 1 sec. yes, she checks in on the reader every single second. attentive queen. 👑
  • expire_time=<secs> — sets the timeout on card removed. defaults to 0, which means never.
  • config_file=<configuration file> — sets the configuration file. defaults to /etc/pam_pkcs11/card_eventmgr.conf.
  • pkcs11_module=<pkcs11.so library> — sets the pkcs#11 library module to use. defaults to /usr/lib/pkcs11/opensc-pkcs11.so.

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/pam_pkcs11/card_eventmgr.conf
  • /usr/lib/pkcs11/opensc-pkcs11.so

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

to run this program the standard way, just type:

pkcs11_eventmgr

alternatively you can specify options, like the main character you are:

pkcs11_eventmgr nodebug nodaemon polling_time=5
config_file=${HOME}/.pkcs11_eventmgr.conf

💀 BUGS 💀

okay so this part is the "read the fine print" part, and ngl it matters:

  • some PKCS#11 Libraries fail on card removal and re-insert. to avoid this, pkcs11_eventmgr tries to re-initialize stuff by calling C_Finalize() and C_Initialize() on card removal. she's doing her best 🫶
  • some apps like [xscreensaver-command] may fail due to external events (for example: trying to unlock an already-unlocked session). in this case, the command incorrectly returns an error code.
  • user should take care on this circumstance. fr fr. 😭

💜 AUTHORS 💜

Juan Antonio Martinez <jonsito@teleline.es>

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

  • pam_pkcs11(8), card_eventmgr(5)
  • README.eventmgr
  • PAM-PKCS11 User Manual

and that's the whole page bestie, no cap 💖 this was brought to you by Juan Antonio Martinez, version 0.4.4, straight out of the PAM-pkcs11 tools era. go lock that screen on card removal, you absolute legend. 🎀✨🦋

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