If, however, security is not an issue with a particular user, than auto login is a simple way to make Ubuntu even more user-friendly than it already is. And fortunately, auto login is simple to set up. In this tutorial you will learn how to set up auto login as well as tweak your log in screen.

The tool

The tool used to configure auto login is found in the Administration menu and is called “Login Window Preferences”. When you go to launch this tool you will be required to enter your sudo password. When the window launches you will see six tabs:

• General: General configuration.
• Local: Login theme, color, welcome message.
• Remote: Remote login.
• Accessibility: Enable more GTK+ modules to be available.
• Security: Auto login, timed login, security.
• Users: Exclude users from login.

Figure 1

The tab used to set up auto login is the Security tab. Click on that to see the settings available (see Figure 1 – Click to enlarge).

To enable auto login you simply have to follow these steps:

1. Click the check box for “Enable Automatic Login”.
2. Select the user who will be automatically logged in from the drop-down list.
3. Set the “pause before logging in time”.
4. Close the window.

It’s that simple. Now of course there is much more that can be done in this tab of the preferences window. So why not take advantage while you have it open?

If you want to be able to log on as the system administrator you can do so here. First you need to check the check box labeled “Allow local system administrator login”. There is one catch. Remember that Ubuntu does not have, by default, a root user password. Because of this, even if you have this feature enabled, the administrator will not be able to log in. In order for this to work you have to give the root user a password. Understand the root user was not given a password in Ubuntu for a reason…simplicity. But if you would prefer to have an administrative user (and bypass having to use sudo) you can give the root user a password by following these steps:

1. Open up a terminal window.
2. Issue the command sudo passwd root.
3. Enter your sudo password.
4. Enter a new password for the root user.
5. Enter the root password again for verification.

Now your local administrator can log in. A word of warning: I don’t recommend loggin in as root. There may be times when it seems necessary, but before you do exhaust other possibilities first. Bad things can happen when you log in as root.

Custom welcome message

When your login screen appears there is a welcome message next to the logo in the greeter. You can personalize this greeting in the Local tab of the preferences window. Click on this tab and look at the bottom of the window where you will see the “Welcome Message’ section. By default the message is simply “Welcome”. To change this click the check box for “Custom” and then enter the greeting you want to use. Once you are done click close.

Final thoughts

Enabling auto login, when used in trusted locations, can be a time saver as well as a way to make your Linux installation more user-friendly. For some users, having to log in to their computer is a real hassel. Help those users out by setting up auto login.

Related posts

• With Ubuntu 9.10 Arrives Wubi 9.10 (2)
• Why you should switch your parents pc to ubuntu (20)
• Which Ubuntu Derivative Is Right For You? (16)
• What makes Ubuntu so user friendly? (47)
• Use SoundJuicer to rip mp3 directly in Linux (4)

The LastPass team has been hard at work making their password management software compatible with additional browsers and devices. The first step is a set of bookmarklets that they have created. These bookmarklets can be used in browsers like Opera, Google Chrome, Safari and even the iPhone to make use of the stored passwords and form information of LastPass. All that needs to be done on the user’s part is to log into the LastPass website and drag the bookmarklets into the web browser.

Three bookmarklets are available: Login, Fill or Fill Form. Login will try to login the user into the website automatically that he is currently on. Fill will only fill in the information stored at LastPass while FillForm will fill out forms automatically. The website contains instructions for a few web browsers, make sure you read them thoroughly.

One could say that those bookmarklets could be a security risk. Imagine someone else accessing the computer where the bookmarklets are installed. That user could practically log into all websites that are stored at LastPass. The team has created a bookmarklet reset for exactly that purpose. This will reset the bookmarklets rendering all bookmarklets that have been created up to this point useless.

Related posts

• One Password Management Software To Rule Them All (15)
• LastPass For Google Chrome Arrives (2)
• Internet Explorer Password Management Add-on (4)
• Ghacks Christmas Giveaway: RoboForm (227)
• Secure Passwords Manager PINs (4)