1.20 Using the Fingerprint Reader
With the ThinkFinger driver, openSUSE supports the fingerprint
reader by UPEK/SGS Thomson Microelectronics included with some IBM and
Lenovo ThinkPads. The same fingerprint reader can also be found in other
laptops and either as a stand-alone device or built into some USB
keyboards. For more details, refer to
https://thinkfinger.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/*checkout*/thinkfinger/README.in.
After registering their fingerprint, users can log in to the system
either by swiping a finger on the fingerprint reader or by typing in a
password.
If the hardware check detects the fingerprint reader integrated with your
laptop (or connected to your system), the packages
libthinkfinger and
pam_thinkfinger are
automatically installed. Use the command line tool
tf-tool to register or verify a fingerprint for
various users. root permission
is required for this. The PAM module pam_thinkfinger
supports user authentication by fingerprint for the following
applications and actions (although you might not be prompted to swipe
your finger in all cases):
-
Logging in to GDM or a login shell
-
Unlocking your screen on the GNOME desktop
-
Starting YaST and the YaST modules in the GNOME control center
-
Starting an application with
root permission:
sudo or gnomesu
-
Changing to a different user identity with su or
su -
username
1.20.1 Registering a Fingerprint
Fingerprints can either be registered with YaST or from the command
line. This section contains instructions on registering fingerprints
from the command line. Currently, only one fingerprint per user can be
registered.
For more detailed information about configuring and using fingerprint
authentication, see
https://en.opensuse.org/Using_Fingerprint_Authentication.
-
Open a shell and log in as
root.
-
Run tf-tool --help to view the
available options.
-
To register a fingerprint for a certain user, enter
tf-tool --add-user login
tf-tool prompts the user to swipe a finger until
three readable fingerprints have been gathered. The user's fingerprint
data is then stored to
/etc/pam_thinkfinger/login.bir.
-
If you want to use fingerprint authentication for starting YaST or
the YaST modules in the GNOME control center, register a fingerprint
for root, too.
-
To verify an existing fingerprint for a certain user, enter
tf-tool --verify-user login
-
Let the user swipe a finger. tf-tool compares the
fingerprint to the print stored for this user and provides a message
if the fingerprints match.
As soon as the user's fingerprint has been successfully registered, the
user can choose to authenticate with either fingerprint or password.
To remove a user's fingerprint, delete the appropriate fingerprint file
for this user:
/etc/pam_thinkfinger/login.bir.
With tf-tool --acquire you can do a
test run with tf-tool. The fingerprint is stored as
/tmp/test.bir and can be verified with
tf-tool --verify.
1.20.2 For More Information
-
Find the project home page at
https://thinkfinger.sourceforge.net/
-
For more technical details, refer to
/usr/share/doc/packages/libthinkfinger/README in
your installed system.
-
There are also man pages available for
pam_thinkfinger and tf-tool.
