The Software Updater function is getting an “Account Locked” message when I try to update the system manually after changing my password to my added admin account that I am logged on to. I do have Pam_Tally2 with a five strikes policy as I am running on AWS EC2 using RDP and want to increase security a bit.
I think those things are “involved” in my issue. I have done the things I can think of to resolve this with sudoers, visudo, etc.
I can run sudo apt-get udpate from the command line just fine and if I wait the pam_tally2 time out, I can do it with the Software Updater, but it seems to lock the account’s strikes policy before it ever asks for the password initially.
Any help understanding how the Software Updater works in this context and why it is locking out before I can even enter a password is appreciated, as well as any options I might try. I just really want the security updates to run automatically for Ubuntu 16.04 and the Mate Environment.
I really love the Mate Interface and have been using it for a couple of months now. It is really a great desktop and runs great on AWS otherwise for me.
I don’t know about the app you are running but if you try and run any software tools after a new start; it will often be locked out by the software updater working in the background. Wait a few minutes after boot and then try it and let us know please.
Thanks Wolfman (my nickname in college coincidentally).
I have been running the instance for about 5 months, same ID/Password, and I have rebooted and shutdown many times over that time. It is a recurrent issue. Rebooting (from the AWS Console) and waiting does work, it is just a pain and I would like it if it just update things automatically as it is set to do.
I am just not clear on what/how the launching the Software Updater is authenticating. It appears something is fouling the Pam_tally2 lockout before it ever asks me for a password, then it does it to grab the default updates and then again to install them.
If I do a sudo apt-get update from the command prompt before I run the Software Updater, it updates fine, but I expect there are other updates that would not be included as the Software Updater does let me download and install if I wait out both Account Locked messages.
I am not real sure what account and password it is using to induce multiple strikes or what it is doing prior to asking me for the password. Of course, I could be misreading the symptoms.
If so, it could be XRDP's fault (a fine alternate is X2GO, available from the Software Boutique), as I've known XRDP to have issues with authentication prompts and Policy Kit (responsible for allowing users to run privileged tasks without asking for the password) at times.
Another workaround may be to run Software Updater as root from the terminal beforehand:
sudo update-manager
On the other hand, it could be mismatching keyboard layouts causing the password to be typed incorrectly.
I am running XRDP. It sounds reasonable that the symptoms might be related to that but I have used XRDP for years with Gnome without issue and this is the only problem I am having.
That said, your sudo update-manager command line seems to work like a champ and is certainly helpful and sufficient for now. I appreciate it.
I will keep looking for a fix as I am not typing in the password and it looks as if some system password is executing in the background out of sync with what I am have the password set to. It kind of bugs me I guess.
Mate and Ubuntu 16.04 are amazing on EC2 as a cloud desktop. If anyone would like to try running it on Amazon Web Services AMI or just see the issue directly. I share it via DesktopAnywhere.com and it runs extremely well on the Free Tier.
There is a video on that shows it running, anyone can just register for to get the AMI shared, and it only takes a couple of minutes to spin it up already configured. Pretty remarkable all this excellent software and functionality for Free. Awesome stuff!
Glad to hear it solved it. It’s likely to be Policy Kit that’s causing trouble, I suggest taking a look there. The password isn’t always asked for updates either.
Instead of running from the terminal, you could update the entry for Software Updater to prompt for the password graphically. Find Software Updater in the Main Menu tool (under System → Look & Feel) and add gksudo or pkexec before it:
gksudo update-manager
pkexec update-manager
This’ll save the need to open a terminal to run as root.
As a side note, if you have SSH set up (and can access your instance via port 22), I would recommend X2GO instead. It’s arguably more secure and uses slightly different technology to RDP when it comes to rendering the screen, which I find much smoother. It supports desired RDP features like shared folders and audio redirection that I found flaky (or not possible?) with XRDP.
