SysAdmin’s Diary

I’m suddenly discovered that my laptop‘s fingerprint scanner is now working very well on Linux. First, here is the details;

Step1: Install related packages
——————————————-
The packages that need to be installed are aes2501-wy, libfprint0, libpam-fprint and fprint-demo. At present all of them (except aes2501-wy) are still in Debian experimental branch, you’ve been warned! Oh yes, I must thank Daniel Drake for the fprint project.

Essential URL’s,
aes2501 Homepage: http://home.gna.org/aes2501/index_en.html
libfprint Wiki: http://www.reactivated.net/fprint/wiki/Libfprint
PAM fprint Wiki: http://www.reactivated.net/fprint/wiki/Pam_fprint

Step2: Testing the aes2501 utility
———————————————
First, make sure you’re really using AuthenTec-based fingerprint senssor. Use lsusb to determine,

mij@unforgiven:~$ lsusb
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 08ff:2580 AuthenTec, Inc.

Now, let’s testing the aes2501 utility,

mij@unforgiven:~$ sudo aes2501
argc=1 Initializing, please standby...
aesSetup()...
aesStartScan()...
READY (touch the sensor to stop)
Scanning...
Assembling...

You will receive an output like this after touching the sensor,

Step 3: Integration With Applications
————————————————–
First of all, we need to enroll particular finger (I’m using right index finger),

unforgiven:~# pam_fprint_enroll --enroll-finger 7
This program will enroll your finger, unconditionally overwriting any selected print that was enrolled previously. If you want to continue, press enter, otherwise hit Ctrl+C

Found device claimed by AuthenTec AES2501 driver
Opened device. It's now time to enroll your finger.

You will need to successfully scan your Right Index Finger 1 times to complete the process.

Scan your finger now.
Enroll complete!
Enrollment completed!

• E.g 1: Integration with su utility
  Edit /etc/pam.d/su and add below entry,

  auth       sufficient pam_fprint.so

  Let’s see how it works,

  mij@unforgiven:~$ su -
  Scan right index finger on AuthenTec AES2501
  
  unforgiven:~#
  

  You can notice that I just need to swipe my finger instead of typing a password.

• E.g 2: Integration with authentication process
  Edit /etc/pam.d/common-auth and add below entry,

  auth    sufficient      pam_fprint.so

  Let’s see how it works,

  Debian GNU/Linux lenny/sid unforgiven tty1
  
  unforgiven login: root
  Scan right index finger on AuthenTec AES2501
  
  Last login: Fri Apr 11 22:37:51 MYT 2008 on tty1
  Linux unforgiven 2.6.24-1-amd64 #1 SMP Thu Mar 27 16:52:38 UTC 2008 x86_64
  
  The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
  the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
  individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
  
  Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
  permitted by applicable law.
  unforgiven:~#

  You can notice that I just need to swipe my finger instead of typing a password.

Yay! Now I can join Fenris with his thinkfinger on Thinpad. Of course, my examples here are quite simple. You can always manipulate and exploit the fprint capability more than this :)