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DannyB [soylentnews.org] writes:

Good News:

Linux home directory management is about to undergo major change [techrepublic.com]

With systemd 245 comes systemd-homed. [github.com] Along with that, Linux admins will have to change the way they manage users and users' home directories.

[ . . . . ] Prior to systemd every system and resource was managed by its own tool, which was clumsy and inefficient. Now? Controlling and managing systems on Linux is incredibly easy.

But one of the creators, Leannart Poettering, has always considered systemd to be incomplete. With the upcoming release of systemd 245, Poettering will take his system one step closer to completion. That step is by way of homed.

[ . . . ] let's take a look at the /home directory. This is a crucial directory in the Linux filesystem hierarchy, as it contains all user data and configurations. For some admins, this directory is so important, it is often placed on a separate partition or drive than the operating system. By doing this, user data is safe, even if the operating system were to implode.

However, the way /home is handled within the operating system makes migrating the /home directory not nearly as easy as it should be. Why? With the current iteration of systemd, user information (such as ID, full name, home directory, and shell) is stored in /etc/passwd and the password associated with that user is stored in /etc/shadow. The /etc/passwd file can be viewed by anyone, whereas /etc/shadow can only be viewed by those with admin or sudo privileges.

[ . . . ] Poettering has decided to make a drastic change. That change is homed. With homed, all information will be placed in a cryptographically signed JSON record for each user. That record will contain all user information such as username, group membership, and password hashes.

Each user home directory will be linked as LUKS-encrypted containers, with the encryption directly coupled to user login. Once systemd-homed detects a user has logged in, the associated home directory is decrypted. Once that user logs out, the home directory is automatically encrypted.

[ . . . . ]

Older articles:

• Pack Your Bags – Systemd Is Taking You To A New Home [hackaday.com]
• Systemd-Homed Merged As A Fundamental Change To Linux Home Directories [phoronix.com]

Will systemd be considered complete once the kernel and boot loader have been absorbed into systemd?

Original Submission