OSX or Messages Agent wants to ues login keychain after login

Question

Level 1

5 points

OSX or Messages Agent wants to ues login keychain after login

iMac with Mountain Lion

After logging in with password, a window appears saying Messages Agent (sometimes it is OSX) wants to use the login_renamed_1 keychain Please enter the keychain password.

It is a little annoying having to re-enter the password after just having done it.

I noticed the problem after upgrading to Mountain Lion.

Then while attempting to get the auto login features of Keychain to work, with some success, most of my passwords in Keychain disappeared.

Recoved previous version of "login" using Time Machine now named "login_renamed_1" has all my passwords as before.

The keychain File menu indicates that the "login" is still the default keychain.

Strange that it is wanting the non-default keychain unlocked.

If I hit cancel instead fo entering the password a new window opens with a request from another program, then another and another until the keychain is unlocked.

Now copied all passwords to another manager so don't need "renamed_login_1" anymore.

Would I have any problems if I deleted the renamed keychain?

Would OSX and the other programs still go looking for it?

Should I try renaming renamed_login_1 to "login" and deleting the current "login"

What is the effect of ticking the box to clear the First Aid history?

The window requesting password appears again every hour or so.

I read someone suggested it is associated with iCloud.

Does iCloud need access to keychain and is there anyway of giving it access as required?

Stewart

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 3, 2013 1:51 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,920 points

Aug 3, 2013 7:49 AM in response to Stewart459

The default login keychain will be unlocked at login if the password on the keychain matches the password of the account.

Other keychains are not unlocked at login and must be unlocked manually.

Those programs are getting their passwords from the "renamed" keychain and are requesting that you unlock it so that they can get the passwords they need to log into the services they support.

If you deleted the renamed keychain, the programs that have their passwords stored in it will ask you to enter the passwords for the services they need to connect to, and will then write the passwords to the default keychain.

If the "renamed" keychain is the one you want as default, you can rename it anything you want, set it as default, and delete the login keychain. However, you won't be able to rename it to "login" until you set it as default and delete or rename the current login keychain.

Reply

Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,553 points

Aug 3, 2013 1:00 PM in response to Stewart459

At some point, you reset your keychain to default in Keychain Access. That caused your login keychain to be renamed.

Back up all data.

In Keychain Access, delete the login keychain from the keychain list. Choose Delete References when prompted, not Delete References & Files.

Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard ( command-C):

~/Library/Keychains

In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens ( command-V), and press return. A folder will open. Rename the file "login.keychain" in that folder to something like "login-old.keychain". Rename the file "login-renamed.keychain" to "login.keychain".

Back in Keychain Access, select

File ▹ Add Keychain...

from the menu bar. Add back the file now named "login.keychain". If any of your needed keychain items are missing from it, also add back the file you named "login-old.keychain". I suggest you transfer any needed items from that keychain to the login keychain, then delete it. The transfers are made by drag-and-drop in Keychain Access. You'll need to enter your password for each item transferred.

Reply

Answer 3

Stewart459 Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 3, 2013 11:59 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks a lot great help

Reply

Answer 4

Stewart459 Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 4, 2013 12:07 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks a million for comprehensive answer.

I did have some additional issues because I had created some additional keychains to store personal data, and for some reason the system wanted access to these rather than the login. It would then not accept my password - no idea why.

Had to keep hitting cancel, then was able to go to Keychain Access and delete reference to these keychains. Then restarting the computer seemed to work fine; although, it didn't remember my passwords for mail accounts, after that seems to be working fine.

Thanks again

Reply

Answer 5

RiderBob

Level 1

6 points

Oct 31, 2013 1:29 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc - Thank you for the clear instructions. They were VERY helpful.

Reply

Answer 6

Nov 29, 2013 4:37 PM in response to Linc Davis

ACK! Linc! Help! I was in too much a hurry as I read your instructions. I clicked delete "references and files" rather than just references. I've hurred to my trash can, but I can find no file that might be what I just accidentally removed.

What, if anything, can I do?

if I could spit at myself I would

Reply

Answer 7

Ken2G5

Level 4

1,361 points

Dec 17, 2013 6:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

Unfortunately, I followed these same instructions in my discussion

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5663515

which is now obviously re-pasted verbatim from somewhere, and now I face a new problem:

There's an alert every time I log into my Mac user account that says, "Messages Agent wants to use the [new default login] keychain" and asks for my password. I cannot find "Messages Agent" anywhere.

How to fix?

Reply