Two Keychains for System & other Keychain questions

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Level 2

285 points

Two Keychains for System & other Keychain questions

I noticed that in the Keychains pane of Keychain Access there are two keychains for "System". They are separated by a keychain called "X509Anchors".

The two System keychains appear to have exactly the same items: AirPort network passwords and a "Dashboard Advisory" certificate.

Any reason I need two identical System keychains?

Also:
1. Can you rename a keychain?
2. Can you re-order the list of keychains?

Thanks.

- Winston

PowerBook G4 667mHz (non-DVI), Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jul 10, 2008 12:04 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jul 10, 2008 12:39 PM in response to WinstonE

They may contain different passwords in each for different types of connections, also, OSX has a global registry for certificates in a keychain called X509Anchors.

1. Can you rename a keychain?
2. Can you re-order the list of keychains?

1. Not that I can find.
2. Not that I can find.

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Answer 2

WinstonE Author

Level 2

285 points

Jul 10, 2008 12:53 PM in response to BDAqua

I did notice that you can move items from one keychain to another. Instead of renaming a keychain, I created a new one, then moved everything to it from the old keychain.

This is clunky, and moved that particular keychain down near the bottom of the list (above the first System keychain).

- W

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Answer 3

WinstonE Author

Level 2

285 points

Jul 10, 2008 12:57 PM in response to WinstonE

I tried opening items in the System keychains. I cannot find a password which will unlock the items. The keychains themselves are already unlocked.

What password works with the System keychains?

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jul 10, 2008 1:34 PM in response to WinstonE

It should be the same as your login PW, unless you changed that, in which case it'd be the older one.

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Answer 5

WinstonE Author

Level 2

285 points

Jul 10, 2008 2:08 PM in response to BDAqua

No, my login password does not work. I have tried both the password I use for the login keychain and the password I use to log in to my OS X account.

Some of the AirPort network password entries in the System keychain have matching items in the login keychain. Some of these have the same modification date, some have a different date.

- W

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jul 10, 2008 2:55 PM in response to WinstonE

In Keychain Access>Window, have you tried Keychain First Aid?

How do I reset a Mac OS X Keychain Password?...

http://www.tech-faq.com/reset-mac-os-x-keychain-password.shtml

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1631

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Answer 7

WinstonE Author

Level 2

285 points

Jul 10, 2008 5:08 PM in response to BDAqua

Keychain First Aid does not show any problems.

Just to be clear, I am not asking about the default keychain, which is titled "login", and is at the top of the list of keychains in Keychain Access.

At the bottom of my keychain list there are two apparently identical keychains titled "System". I don't know why they are there, why there are two of them, or why they overlap with the "login" keychain.

What are the "System" keychains?

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Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jul 10, 2008 6:15 PM in response to WinstonE

Could one have been imported, or Migrated from another install/setup?

Only thing in my System Keychain are my AEBS Network Password and Dashboard Advisory Certificate.

I'm guessing other things like Automounts, iTunes Store, etc. might be in one elsewhere.

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Answer 9

WinstonE Author

Level 2

285 points

Jul 10, 2008 8:10 PM in response to BDAqua

Yes, one could have been imported or migrated, but they appear to be identical.

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Answer 10

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jul 10, 2008 8:29 PM in response to WinstonE

Well, I don't know of a way to temporarily move it to test, and the ugly thought just crossed my mind... what if it's just a dual reference in a .plist or something, and removing one removes them both! 😟

I suppose yu could right click on any/all of these folders that you might have, and Archive them, then test the theory.

/Library/Keychains
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Keychains
/System/Library/Keychains
/Library/Keychains/System.keychain

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Answer 11

WinstonE Author

Level 2

285 points

Jul 11, 2008 7:14 AM in response to BDAqua

The keychain item "System" only shows up in /Library/Keychains/System.keychain, and only once. So maybe Keychain Access is displaying the same thing twice for some reason.

Very odd.

- W

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Answer 12

Sep 29, 2008 7:59 AM in response to WinstonE

I was having the same appearance of 2 System keychains on my MacBookPro and never realized why (it was not on the other machines). Today when searching the web for some other problem I found somewhere: if you open keychain access and go to the Edit menu you find an item called "Keychain List". If you click on it a drop-down sheet opens where you can choose between "User" and "Mac OS X (System)". Under "User" you get the keychains which are listed for you. There I had my login keychain, 1Password keychain (that's from a third party application), and System keychain (with a checked box in the Shared column). Now I was brave: I highlighted the System keychain and clicked on the minus sign in the left corner (I thought this may just have an effect on the listing itself, without deleting the keychain). The very same time one of both System keychains in the Keychain pane disappeared. I closed Keychain Access, opened it again and went to Keychain list. Now there is again a shared "System" keychain visible, but on the Keychain pane there is still only one listed!

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