systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

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PeteH
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systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

Post by PeteH » 2018/12/21 14:43:54

Apologies if this is "old hat" but since stopping machines rebooting when ctrl-alt-del is pressed is sort of a security issue I'll ask the question here.

Ive tried
#systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target
#systemctl daemon-reload
and the more obscure
#ln -sf /dev/null /etc/systemd/system/ctrl-alt-del.target

Neither of them work, although I believe theres also an erro,r in that the linked file should be ctrl-alt-delete.target (since thats whats in the directory on a fresh install). If I send a ctrl-alt-del from a VMWare remote console even when ctrl-alt-delete.target is symlinked to /dev/null (or indeed ctrl-alt-delete.target symlinked to /dev/null) the machine still reboots. Any suggestions?

I'm really starting to miss /etc/inittab

Pete

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TrevorH
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Re: systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

Post by TrevorH » 2018/12/21 15:18:08

Are you running a GUI on the machine? I tested masking ctrl-alt-del and if logged into gnome it comes up with a dialog box asking if I am sure I want to reboot. If I boot run runlevel 3 with it masked then it does nothing. If I unmask it and hit ctrl-alt-del in runlevel 3 then it reboots. So it's gnome intercepting the ctrl-alt-del and doing its own thing with it. Therefore you will need to disable both methods - systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del/target protects when at the cli.

https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1123873 seems to be the full list of things you have to do.
# cat /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-disable-CAD
[org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys]
logout=''
# dconf update
The future appears to be RHEL or Debian. I think I'm going Debian.
Info for USB installs on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
CentOS 5 and 6 are deadest, do not use them.
Use the FAQ Luke

PeteH
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Joined: 2018/12/20 17:34:39

Re: systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

Post by PeteH » 2018/12/21 15:49:17

Trevor,
No the machine is running command line only, no GUI involved. The only thing that's in any way different is that it's a VMWare VM not physical tin.

Pete

PeteH
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Joined: 2018/12/20 17:34:39

Re: systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

Post by PeteH » 2018/12/21 16:03:23

Trevor,
See attached.

You would think that should do it (and yes, this is a clean install from media). However if you send CTRL+ALT+DEL it reboots the box. All I can think of is that there's some discrepancy in the way the host machine processes the signal from the VMWare remote console. It's odd.

Pete
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TrevorH
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Re: systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

Post by TrevorH » 2018/12/21 18:02:42

My attempt was on a VM in VirtualBox and if I booted to the cli and ran systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target then used the vbox menu to send ctrl-alt-del to the VM then it did nothing. If I unmasked it and did the same then it rebooted.

So with it unmasked, /etc/systemd/system has no ctrl-alt-del.target entry at all. Once I mask it then it has

lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 9 Dec 21 17:56 ctrl-alt-del.target -> /dev/null

With that in place, if my VM is running gnome then I get a big popup when I hit Insert -> Keyboard -> Insert ctrl-alt-del but if I reboot and append 3 to the kernel command line to come up in cli mode and do the same then I get this in /var/log/messages

Dec 21 17:59:10 centos7 systemd: Received SIGINT.
Dec 21 17:59:10 centos7 systemd: Failed to enqueue ctrl-alt-del.target job: Unit is masked.

I can only assume that VMWare is doing something odd and not sending ctrl-alt-del at all but something else entirely that it thinks will do just as well (but doesn't).
The future appears to be RHEL or Debian. I think I'm going Debian.
Info for USB installs on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
CentOS 5 and 6 are deadest, do not use them.
Use the FAQ Luke

PeteH
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Joined: 2018/12/20 17:34:39

Re: systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

Post by PeteH » 2018/12/21 18:55:23

Trevor,
Very much what I'm thinking. The behaviour under the VMWare console is "odd" and I don't like odd. It's not a "show stopper" but it's just one of those things I normally like to deal with as part of a build.

Incidently, and just for reference, ctrl-alt-delete.target is symlinked by default on a fresh build to reboot.target.

Pete

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TrevorH
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Re: systemctl mask ctrl-alt-del.target not working

Post by TrevorH » 2018/12/21 19:03:11

VMware has some sort of Guest Additions thing you can build/compile/install. Maybe it's short circuiting the keyboard and communicating via those?
The future appears to be RHEL or Debian. I think I'm going Debian.
Info for USB installs on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey
CentOS 5 and 6 are deadest, do not use them.
Use the FAQ Luke

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