collection.unlock() and collection.is_locked() both return True

[mandarm]

I tried the following; collection.unlock() and collection.is_locked() both return True. I must be doing something wrong, but don't know enough about secretstorage to identify what my error is. Please help!

    $ python3
    Python 3.8.10 (default, Jun  2 2021, 10:49:15) 
    [GCC 9.4.0] on linux
    Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
    >>> import secretstorage
    >>> collection = secretstorage.get_default_collection(secretstorage.dbus_init())
    >>> collection.is_locked()
    True
    >>> collection.unlock()
    True
    >>> collection.is_locked()
    True
    >>> 

pip list says SecretStorage 3.3.1

[mitya57]

The unlock method has a counter-intuitive interface:
https://secretstorage.readthedocs.io/en/latest/collection.html#secretstorage.collection.Collection.unlock

Returns a boolean representing whether the prompt has been dismissed; that means False on successful unlocking and True if it has been dismissed.

We inherited it from the Secret Service specification. I hate it too, but now it's too late to change it.

[mandarm]

Thanks! Is my understanding that collection.unlock() should interactively prompt for a password correct? It doesn't for me, so I'm probably doing something else that's wrong.

[mitya57]

Is my understanding that collection.unlock() should interactively prompt for a password correct?

Yes, it should prompt for a password. Are you using gnome-keyring? If yes, is it GNOME Shell, some other desktop environment or a headless system?

[mandarm]

Sorry for taking your time. I'll have physical access to the machine tomorrow, and I'm hoping things will just work if I login to the desktop environment (Lubuntu 20.04 / LXQT by default, but will switch to plain fvwm shortly). For now, I'm logged in via ssh and ran the following

gnome-keyring-daemon --start
export SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/run/user/1001/keyring/ssh

before updating SecretStorage and running the code in my first post. collection.unlock() just returns True for me; no prompt, no exception.

One other possibility -- just a random thought -- is that the secrets / collection is stored in an older incompatible format. I'm trying to revive this machine by installing a light distribution, but the home directories have been around and unused for some years.