Monday, April 23, 2012

CentOS / RHEL: Install gpass Password Manager For GNOME2 Desktop

I've recently swiched from Ubuntu Linux to CentOS / RHEL version 6 gnome desktop. However, I'm unable to find the gpass the password manager for GNOME2 desktop in repo. How do I install the same under RHEL 6 or CentOS or Scientific Linux 6 or Fedora Linux 15?

The gpass is easy to use and secure password manager for GNOME2. The password collection is stored in an encrypted (Blowfish) file, protected by a master-password. You can compile and install it as follows.

Step # 1: Install Development Tools

You need GCC compiler and tools. Type the following command to install them:
# yum -y groupinstall "Development tools"
It will install the following packages and setup a basic development environment:
   autoconf
automake
binutils
bison
flex
gcc
gcc-c++
gettext
libtool
make
patch
pkgconfig
redhat-rpm-config
rpm-build
Default Packages:
byacc
cscope
ctags
cvs
diffstat
doxygen
elfutils
gcc-gfortran
git
indent
intltool
patchutils
rcs
subversion
swig
systemtap
Optional Packages:
ElectricFence
ant
babel
bzr
ccache
chrpath
clips
clips-devel
clips-doc
clips-emacs
clips-xclips
clipsmm-devel
clipsmm-doc
cmake
cmucl
colordiff
compat-gcc-34
compat-gcc-34-c++
compat-gcc-34-g77
cvsps
darcs
dejagnu
email2trac
expect
ftnchek
gcc-gnat
gcc-java
gcc-objc
gcc-objc++
ghc
git
haskell-platform
imake
jpackage-utils
kdewebdev
libstdc++-docs
lua
mercurial
mock
mod_dav_svn
nasm
nqc
nqc-doc
ocaml
perltidy
python-docs
qgit
rpmdevtools
rpmlint
sbcl
systemtap-sdt-devel
systemtap-server
trac
trac-git-plugin
trac-mercurial-plugin
trac-webadmin
translate-toolkit
You also need to install additional development libs for the gpass:
# yum install libgnomeui-devel mhash-devel libmcrypt-devel

Step #2: Download gpass

Use the wget command to download the source code, enter:
$ cd /tmp
wget http://projects.netlab.jp/gpass/release/gpass-0.5.1.tar.gz

Sample outputs:
--2011-08-26 16:35:36--  http://projects.netlab.jp/gpass/release/gpass-0.5.1.tar.gz
Resolving projects.netlab.jp... 221.186.184.69
Connecting to projects.netlab.jp|221.186.184.69|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 512614 (501K) [application/x-tar]
Saving to: “gpass-0.5.1.tar.gz”
100%[======================================>] 512,614 158K/s in 3.2s
2011-08-26 16:35:39 (158 KB/s) - “gpass-0.5.1.tar.gz” saved [512614/512614]

Step #3: Compile gpass

Type the following commands to untar tar ball:
$ tar gpass-0.5.1.tar.gz
$ cd gpass-0.5.1

You need set link options using the LDFLAGS shell variable as follows:
$ export LDFLAGS='-export-dynamic'
Configure the software, enter:
$ ./configure
Sample outputs:
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
.....
...
..
config.status: executing intltool commands
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing default-1 commands
config.status: executing po/stamp-it commands
==================================================================
Configuration:
Source code location : .
Install location : /usr/local
Compiler : gcc
Unit test(make check): no
Finally to build the software, enter:
$ make
To install the same, enter:
$ make install

How Do I Use the Gpass?

Type the following command:
$ gpass

How Do I Backup My Passwords?

Simply copy $HOME/.gpass/ to backup media such as pen drive or external hard disk using the cp command:
$ cp -avr $HOME/.gpass/ /media/usbpen/backup/

How Do I Restore My Passwords?

Type the following command (assuming that backup usb pen is mounted at /media/usbpen/):
$ cp -avr /media/usbpen/backup/.gpass/* $HOME/.gpass/

No comments:

Post a Comment