MX Linux Forum

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

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

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.

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

dolphin_oracle wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 11:23 pm 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.

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.

dolphin_oracle wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:59 am 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.

a_freed_man wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 9:27 am

dolphin_oracle wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:59 am 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.

dolphin_oracle wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:08 am 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?

a_freed_man wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 11:06 am

dolphin_oracle wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:08 am 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.

ok try this set of "test" debs.

almost every field in mx-welcome now has some kind of configuration capability.

the default /usr/share/mx-welcome/mx-welcome.conf has the expanded parameters in it with comments describing them. copy that file to /etc/mx-welcome/mx-welcome.conf and make your edits there. /etc/mx-welcome/mx-welcome.conf will take precedence over the default one in /usr/share/mx-welcome. you do not have to edit all values, and you can also just have the values you want changed in the new file. the /etc version variables only are used if they are non-empty, otherwise the default file and/or some built-in app defaults are used.

let me know what you think. I'll be out for a while, but will check in later this weekend.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Se2BTS ... sp=sharing

OK thx very much. I was out all day & won't be able to get to this until Sunday afternoon or early evening, but I'll certainly let you know how it works for me Monday if not before.

Thank you very much sir for your help. Only other thing I might want but don't need is to possibly show different default accounts & passwords. I'm perfectly fine with this tho!

Well done!

a_freed_man wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:20 pm Thank you very much sir for your help. Only other thing I might want but don't need is to possibly show different default accounts & passwords. I'm perfectly fine with this tho!

Well done!

hmm, good suggestion. I'll probably implement that before actually releasing to the repo.

you can keep using the one linked here, my final one will update over it, but won't touch your /etc/mx-welcome/mx-welcome.conf file so that will be safe.

Re: "different default accounts & passwords"
What are those? Showing an actual user's and non-default root's password on-screen and putting the same in a readable configuration file is a very bad security practice. That's why using persistence forces the creation of new passwords.

Well, I have more testing to do, and I haven't rebooted in awhile. However my live USB will ship with p_static_root persistence set as a default, and as such I don't believe it does force a password change on live boot, just like the released versions of mx Live don't.

If you're at all security conscious you should change the live passwords before you put a live system online. This is what I have in my initial welcome screen.

However I don't disagree, there is no question that providing default passwords for any account, especially root, entails some risk