How do I reduce password requests?

I've just recently started daily driving Ubuntu and I am taken aback by how many times in a day I need to write my password; there are situations in which I input it every few minutes.

Now I don't want to simplify my password or to outright remove it for safety reasons but are there any options to reduce login requests?

Maybe asking only once every hour or using a phone to log in (I couldn't make face id work)?


Solution 1:

The password is there for security. How much it is asked, depends on your workflow and on the security settings.

  • You need to give your password once during login. Each time you log out an then back in, or if you log in through other means, e.g. through ssh or on a tty, you need to give your password. The login password can be disabled, but you are right in saying you do not want that decrease in security.
  • Then you need to give your password to unlock the screen. After some period of inactivity, the screen lock kicks in. You need to give the password to have access again. You can extend the period after which the lock kicks in, or disable automatic locking to reduce the number of times you need to give a password to unlock your screen.
  • Then you may need to give your password to do things as administrator, i.e. as root user. Obviously that password should never be disabled. You should only use root privileges when strictly required to manage the operating system. For safety reasons, sudo remembers the password during 15 minutes only. That can be changed. You can open a root prompt with sudo -i. Then your sudo password will not be asked while that prompt is active. Thus, be careful using that feature and do not leave such prompt unnecessarily open.