Unlock "sudo" with TouchID on your Mac

January 4, 2024
#macos #touchid
A man using his finger to unlock a computer system

Since I got my Magic Keybord with integrated TouchID, I don't rely on my password anymore to authenticate myself on my local machine. So I thought why not enable it for "sudo" commands in the Terminal as well?

Here is how:

Copy sudo_local file

sudo cp /etc/pam.d/sudo_local.template /etc/pam.d/sudo_local

Edit sudo_local file

Uncomment the following line in the newly copied sudo_local file (e.g. with sudo vi /etc/pam.d/sudo_local):

auth       sufficient     pam_tid.so

Save the file, and voilà!

You might have to exit your current shell or open a new one before it works

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📸 Photo by Midjourney (prompts by Marc Backes)