Howto disable the root & demo passwords, not wipe /var/log/nginx folder [Solved]

[a_freed_man]

Not sure of the best place to post this question so I'll try here. I will move to elsewhere if I'm given a better location.

There must be some way to tell the mx-welcome binary not to display the default root & demo passwords at the bottom of the MX Welcome panel but I can't figure how and I can't find an answer here on the forum.

Since mx-welcome is a binary and I don't see those passwords on an installed system, it seems unlikely there are 2 versions (1 with and one without the passwords).

I don't want that info showing up on my live boot USB. It won't be correct and will lead to confusion.

I have also come up short trying to resolve how to retain the /var/log/nginix folder when I remaster a new Live image. It is not listed in any of the excluded files, so I don't understand why it isn't preserved with the other changes I make.

I am always booting with p_static_root, using dolphin oracle's respin with systemd.

These are 2 problems impeding my progress I need to resolve before I can hand off to users.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[figueroa]

@a_freed_man
All logs in /var/log are excluded except for the directories /var/log/clamav and /var/log/samba. That's the meaning of the first line of the snippet below:

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var/log/!(samba|clamav)
var/log/clamav/*
var/log/samba/*

exclude everything in /var/log but NOT (!) /var/log/samba and /var/log/clamav.

The final two lines in the snippet above from /etc/mx-snapshot-exclude.list exclude the contents of the /var/log/samba and clamav directories.

So, if you want to keep /var/log/nginix back it up, or add it to the list, i.e.

Code: Select all

]var/log/!(samba|clamav|nginix)

More efficient for the computer to put them in alphabetical order:

Code: Select all

]var/log/!(clamav|nginix|samba)

[figueroa]

Also, the default demo and root passwords are compiled into the binary. I suspect, but don't know for sure, if it's running as user demo.

[dolphin_oracle]

Mx welcome displays the default passwords when running live. It’s built in.

[a_freed_man]

Mx welcome displays the default passwords when running live. It’s built in.

"when running live" is the key. I removed the demo account so that wasn't the cause, and on my (non-live) system it doesn't show up.

How does the mx-welcome binary determine it's running live? Can that be faked by moving a file temporarily or setting an env var?
I could rename the binary and wrap it in a script that manipulates whatever is required, if that's not a ridiculous idea.

As for the log exclusion, my bad for not understanding the nomenclature.

[dolphin_oracle]

I tell you what, I can make it configurable this weekend.

right now it checks for the presence of of a filesystem mounted with a aufs or overlayfs file system.

[a_freed_man]

I tell you what, I can make it configurable this weekend.

right now it checks for the presence of of a filesystem mounted with a aufs or overlayfs file system.

Whoa - dude thank you so much! Now that is going extra far to support your fans.

If you do crypto I'll send you a nice tip PM me your wallet address.

I was thinking about it last night and figured it has gonna come down to a fs path, also thought of chroot and realized it wouldn't work or would defeat the useful functionality of the binary. It's really a nice tool for newcomers to MX. It's one of the reasons I liked Mint when it was introduced.

[dolphin_oracle]

I tell you what, I can make it configurable this weekend.

right now it checks for the presence of of a filesystem mounted with a aufs or overlayfs file system.

Whoa - dude thank you so much! Now that is going extra far to support your fans.

If you do crypto I'll send you a nice tip PM me your wallet address.

I was thinking about it last night and figured it has gonna come down to a fs path, also thought of chroot and realized it wouldn't work or would defeat the useful functionality of the binary. It's really a nice tool for newcomers to MX. It's one of the reasons I liked Mint when it was introduced.

no problem. in the last update we also introduced a hidden feature that you can override the /usr/share/mx-welcome/mx-welcome.conf file with a /etc/mx-welcome/mx-welcome.conf file. that defines a few things like name (which also gets pulled from /etc/lsb-release if it exists) and icon set and the background bar. so your request would dovetail nicely with some ideas for making mx-welcome even more generic. My plan is that the default will be "on" for those passwords, but you can make the /etc/mx-welcome/mx-welcome.conf file with the option to turn it off. BTW only the parts you want to override from the defaults need to be present in the /etc version.

I'll post back here when I have it ready. There are a couple of other things I want to tweak anyway.

[a_freed_man]

I'll post back here when I have it ready. There are a couple of other things I want to tweak anyway.

That's fantastic "dolphin dude" ! Since I'm using one of your respins now to get the systemd default, can I get these changes in an update or will I need to reapply my customizations to a new MX base that has them?

[dolphin_oracle]

I'll post back here when I have it ready. There are a couple of other things I want to tweak anyway.

That's fantastic "dolphin dude" ! Since I'm using one of your respins now to get the systemd default, can I get these changes in an update or will I need to reapply my customizations to a new MX base that has them?

this one will come in an update.