vlock(1) — Linux manual page

NAME \| SYNOPSIS \| DESCRIPTION \| OPTIONS \| AUTHOR \| COLOPHON

VLOCK(1)                 General Commands Manual                VLOCK(1)

NAME top

       vlock - Virtual Console lock program

SYNOPSIS top

       vlock

       vlock [ -a,--all ] [ -c,--current ] [ -h,--help ] [ -v,--version
       ]

DESCRIPTION top

       vlock is a program to lock one or more sessions on the Linux
       console.  This is especially useful for Linux machines which have
       multiple users with access to the console.  One user may lock his
       or her session(s) while still allowing other users to use the
       system on other virtual consoles.  If desired, the entire console
       may be locked and virtual console switching disabled.

       By default, only the current VC (virtual console) is locked.
       With the -a,-all option all VCs are locked.  The locked VCs
       cannot be unlocked without the invoker's password.  And, for the
       paranoid, vlock makes it a trying experience for those attempting
       to guess the password, so unauthorized access to session(s) is
       highly unlikely.

       Please note that it is entirely possible to completely lock
       yourself out of the console with the -a,--all option if you
       cannot remember your password!  Unless you are able to kill vlock
       by logging in remotely via a serial terminal or network, a hard
       reset is the only method of ``unlocking'' the display.

       vlock works for console sessions primarily.  However, there is
       support for trying to lock non-console sessions as well, but that
       support has not been well tested.

OPTIONS top

       -a,--all

              Lock all console sessions and disable VC switching.

       -c,--current

              Lock the current session (this is the default).

       -h,--help

              Print a brief help message.

       -v,--version

              Print the version number of vlock.

AUTHOR top

       Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com>

COLOPHON top

       This page is part of the kbd (Linux keyboard tools) project.
       Information about the project can be found at 
       ⟨http://www.kbd-project.org/⟩.  If you have a bug report for this
       manual page, send it to kbd@lists.altlinux.org.  This page was
       obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://github.com/legionus/kbd.git⟩ on 2024-06-14.  (At that
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       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
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kbd                            16 May 1996                      VLOCK(1)