Ansible Role: autologin

Create a new user and configure the system to log him in automatically, either in textual or graphical mode. No display manager is required: all is done at terminal level.

This is useful in many cases, specifically when precise control over the running software is required. Examples include industrial PC bound to specific machineries or kiosk systems.

The idea of leveraging getty has been borrowed from the ArchLinux wiki.

Role Variables

Available variables are listed below, along with default values (see defaults/main.yml for up to date info):

autologin_user:
  name: "operator"
  group: "users"
  groups:
  comment:

The user to log automatically in: name and group are mandatories. You must specify the user.

autologin_startup: "startx"

The command to execute after login. This line will be appended to the .profile script of the above user. By default, the X server is called.

autologin_xinitrc: ""

Eventual .xinitrc file to upload into the user home folder.

autologin_override: "/etc/systemd/system/[email protected]"

The systemd directory for overriding the tty service. A new file, called override.conf will be created inside that directory that will change the getty behavior.

Example Playbook

Automatically start myprogram in text mode as user ntd:

- hosts: machinery
  roles:
  - role: ntd.autologin
    autologin_user:
        name:  ntd
        group: users
    autologin_startup: myprogram

Install a custom .xinitrc file and start in graphic mode. The myxinitrc script must be already present in your files/ folder.

- hosts: kiosk
  roles:
  - role: ntd.autologin
    autologin_user:
        name:    ntd
        group:   users
        groups:  dialout
        comment: Nicola Fontana
    autologin_xinitrc: myxinitrc

License

MIT

Author Information

This role was created in 2019 by Nicola Fontana (ntd@entidi.it).