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{{admon/important|Change dropped|This Change is dropped: see [https://pagure.io/fesco/issue/3059 this FESCo ticket discussion]. It can be re-proposed if interest in it revives.}}


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= Modular GNOME Keyring services =
 
<!-- The actual name of your proposed change page should look something like: Changes/Your_Change_Proposal_Name.  This keeps all change proposals in the same namespace -->
 
= Modular GNOME Keyring <!-- The name of your change proposal --> =


== Summary ==
== Summary ==
The monolithic gnome-keyring-daemon will be split into dedicated sub-daemons, so that they can be consistently managed by systemd.
The monolithic daemon provided by GNOME Keyring will be split into dedicated sub-daemons, so that they can be consistently managed by systemd.


== Owner ==
== Owner ==
<!--
For change proposals to qualify as self-contained, owners of all affected packages need to be included here. Alternatively, a SIG can be listed as an owner if it owns all affected packages.
This should link to your home wiki page so we know who you are.
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* Name: [[User:ueno|Daiki Ueno]], [[User:benzea|Benjamin Berg]]
* Name: [[User:ueno|Daiki Ueno]], [[User:benzea|Benjamin Berg]]
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* Email: dueno@redhat.com, bberg@redhat.com
* Email: dueno@redhat.com, bberg@redhat.com
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* Targeted release: [[Releases/34 | Fedora 34 ]]
* Targeted release:
* Last updated: <!-- this is an automatic macro — you don't need to change this line -->  {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}  
* Last updated: <!-- this is an automatic macro — you don't need to change this line -->  {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}  
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CLOSED as NEXTRELEASE -> change is completed and verified and will be delivered in next release under development
CLOSED as NEXTRELEASE -> change is completed and verified and will be delivered in next release under development
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-->
* FESCo issue: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
* FESCo issue: [https://pagure.io/fesco/issue/2502 #2502]
* Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
* Tracker bug: [https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1899998 #1899998]
* Release notes tracker: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
* Release notes tracker: [https://pagure.io/fedora-docs/release-notes/issue/605 #605]


== Detailed Description ==
== Detailed Description ==


While GNOME Keyring was originally aiming to be the central cryptographic service on desktop, its scope has been gradually reduced over years. Notable examples are [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=750514 gpg-agent removal] in 2015, [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=791401 PKCS #11 module deprecation] in 2018, and [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=775981 ssh-agent rewrite to defer the operations to the OpenSSH ssh-agent] in 2018.
GNOME Keyring provides multiple services from a single daemon program called gnome-keyring-daemon. This daemon is launched by the session manager (gnome-session) or PAM, depending on desktop environments. That design makes troubleshooting hard when any issue arises, as well as the individual services cannot be easily turned off.


Those services were exposed as part of the single daemon program called gnome-keyring-daemon, launched by the gnome-session or PAM depending on desktop environments. Now that only the essential service remaining in gnome-keyring-daemon is the D-Bus secret-service, it would be worth considering the split of the daemon into small sub-services, that can be activated by systemd.
Despite its original goal to be the central cryptographic service on desktop, the scope of GNOME Keyring has been gradually reduced over years. Notable examples are [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=750514 gpg-agent removal] in 2015, [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=791401 PKCS #11 module deprecation] and [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=775981 ssh-agent rewrite to wrap ssh-agent from OpenSSH] in 2018. Now that only the essential services remaining in gnome-keyring-daemon are D-Bus secret-service and the ssh-agent wrapper, it would be straightforward to split the daemon into sub-daemons per functionality.


<!-- Expand on the summary, if appropriate.  A couple sentences suffices to explain the goal, but the more details you can provide the better. -->
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     https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/perl5.26 (major upgrade to a popular software stack, visible to users of that stack)
     https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/perl5.26 (major upgrade to a popular software stack, visible to users of that stack)
-->
-->
Consistent experience of managing the services due to fine grained service units. This would simplify the desktop secret management and allow further extension of it towards modern security mechanisms e.g., hardware-based security.
This will bring in consistent experience of setting up and managing the individual services provided by GNOME Keyring, taking advantage of systemd service manager.


== Scope ==
== Scope ==
* Proposal owners:
* Proposal owners: gnome-keyring-daemon currently provides 3 services: D-Bus secret-service, ssh-agent wrapper, and a control socket for PAM to automatically unlock the login keyring. Those services are either split out, or removed in favor of other means, in the following steps:
** Move the ssh-agent code from the gnome-keyring package to gcr, making it socket activatable
** Make the D-Bus secret-service D-Bus activatable
** The remaining secret-service is made to be D-Bus activatable
** Make the ssh-agent wrapper service socket activatable
** Install systemd unit files for those sub services, replacing the monolithic gnome-keyring-daemon service
** Move the ssh-agent wrapper service to gcr
** Modify the PAM module to use libsecret API to unlock the login keyring, instead of the control socket
** Install systemd unit files for those services, modify the current session initialization sequence to use them
** (Stretch goal) move the D-Bus secret-service implementation to libsecret
** (Stretch goal) remove the gnome-keyring package from the default compose
<!-- What work do the feature owners have to accomplish to complete the feature in time for release?  Is it a large change affecting many parts of the distribution or is it a very isolated change? What are those changes?-->
<!-- What work do the feature owners have to accomplish to complete the feature in time for release?  Is it a large change affecting many parts of the distribution or is it a very isolated change? What are those changes?-->


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== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==
<!-- What happens to systems that have had a previous versions of Fedora installed and are updated to the version containing this change? Will anything require manual configuration or data migration? Will any existing functionality be no longer supported? -->
<!-- What happens to systems that have had a previous versions of Fedora installed and are updated to the version containing this change? Will anything require manual configuration or data migration? Will any existing functionality be no longer supported? -->
The migration should be transparent.


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== How To Test ==
== How To Test ==
Check if the sub-services are managed by systemd, using systemctl status.
Check if the GNOME Keyring services are now managed by systemd, using systemctl status. Check if the existing applications (Seahorse, SSH clients, etc.) still work.
<!-- This does not need to be a full-fledged document. Describe the dimensions of tests that this change implementation is expected to pass when it is done.  If it needs to be tested with different hardware or software configurations, indicate them.  The more specific you can be, the better the community testing can be.  
<!-- This does not need to be a full-fledged document. Describe the dimensions of tests that this change implementation is expected to pass when it is done.  If it needs to be tested with different hardware or software configurations, indicate them.  The more specific you can be, the better the community testing can be.  


Latest revision as of 17:46, 3 October 2023

Change dropped
This Change is dropped: see this FESCo ticket discussion. It can be re-proposed if interest in it revives.

Modular GNOME Keyring services

Summary

The monolithic daemon provided by GNOME Keyring will be split into dedicated sub-daemons, so that they can be consistently managed by systemd.

Owner

  • Product: Workstation
  • Responsible WG: Workstation

Current status

  • Targeted release:
  • Last updated: 2023-10-03
  • FESCo issue: #2502
  • Tracker bug: #1899998
  • Release notes tracker: #605

Detailed Description

GNOME Keyring provides multiple services from a single daemon program called gnome-keyring-daemon. This daemon is launched by the session manager (gnome-session) or PAM, depending on desktop environments. That design makes troubleshooting hard when any issue arises, as well as the individual services cannot be easily turned off.

Despite its original goal to be the central cryptographic service on desktop, the scope of GNOME Keyring has been gradually reduced over years. Notable examples are gpg-agent removal in 2015, PKCS #11 module deprecation and ssh-agent rewrite to wrap ssh-agent from OpenSSH in 2018. Now that only the essential services remaining in gnome-keyring-daemon are D-Bus secret-service and the ssh-agent wrapper, it would be straightforward to split the daemon into sub-daemons per functionality.


Feedback

Benefit to Fedora

This will bring in consistent experience of setting up and managing the individual services provided by GNOME Keyring, taking advantage of systemd service manager.

Scope

  • Proposal owners: gnome-keyring-daemon currently provides 3 services: D-Bus secret-service, ssh-agent wrapper, and a control socket for PAM to automatically unlock the login keyring. Those services are either split out, or removed in favor of other means, in the following steps:
    • Make the D-Bus secret-service D-Bus activatable
    • Make the ssh-agent wrapper service socket activatable
    • Move the ssh-agent wrapper service to gcr
    • Modify the PAM module to use libsecret API to unlock the login keyring, instead of the control socket
    • Install systemd unit files for those services, modify the current session initialization sequence to use them
    • (Stretch goal) move the D-Bus secret-service implementation to libsecret
    • (Stretch goal) remove the gnome-keyring package from the default compose
  • Other developers: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
  • Policies and guidelines: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
  • Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
  • Alignment with Objectives:

Upgrade/compatibility impact

The migration should be transparent.

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

How To Test

Check if the GNOME Keyring services are now managed by systemd, using systemctl status. Check if the existing applications (Seahorse, SSH clients, etc.) still work.

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

User Experience

No visible change should be observed by normal users.

Dependencies

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Contingency Plan

  • Contingency mechanism: (What to do? Who will do it?) N/A (not a System Wide Change)
  • Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
  • Blocks release? N/A (not a System Wide Change), Yes/No
  • Blocks product? product

Documentation

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Release Notes

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