LOCK(1) | General Commands Manual | LOCK(1)

# NAME

`lock` — reserve a terminal

# SYNOPSIS

`lock` | [`-np`] [`-a` style] [`-t` timeout]

# DESCRIPTION

`lock` requests a password from the user, reads it again for verification and then will normally not relinquish the terminal until the password is repeated.

The options are as follows:

`-a` style
  The specified BSD Authentication login style (as specified in /etc/login.conf) will be used to authenticate the user. If the particular style requires a challenge/response handshake or a special prompt, the user may enter the name of the style to get the standard prompt for that style.
`-n`
  Lock the terminal forever. This overrides `-t` and is the default on OpenBSD unless `-t` is specified.
`-p`
  A password is not requested, instead the user's current login password is used. If the user has an S/Key key, they may also use it to unlock the terminal. To do this the user should enter "s/key" at the unlock “Key:” prompt. The user will then be issued an S/Key challenge to which they may respond with a six-word S/Key one-time password.
`-t` timeout
  Unlock the terminal after timeout minutes unless `-n` is also specified. When used in this manner `lock` should be invoked so that the user is safely logged out if the timeout elapses:

  `$ lock -t 15 || exit`

# SEE ALSO

skey(1), login.conf(5)

# HISTORY

The `lock` command first appeared in 2BSD.

# AUTHORS

Kurt Shoens.

July 24, 2019 | Debian