File vault verses automatic login

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Level 9

64,610 points

File vault verses automatic login

Hello !

My old uncle has queries from so many days regarding file vault and automatic login .

He is having a very good friend circle , friends usually comes to his house , and they are using his computer as guest user account .

My uncle has an administrator account with strong password , he has also enabled file vault , and he has googled some where when file vault is enabled , automatic login is disabled .

But my uncle is some what curious about his computer and wants some changes in the settings .

TO ENABLE FILE VAULT AND AUTOMATIC LOGIN SIMULTANEOUSLY .( means he wants : file vault enabled + at the same time automatic login should be also enabled ) .

He is frustrated and tried safe mode , SMC , PRAM and has gone to recovery mode and tried some steps from there , but no avail .

Please help ! 😢😟

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 8, 2016 9:41 AM

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Answer 1

aviolas

Level 1

9 points

Oct 25, 2017 10:41 AM in response to Niel

Actually, I came looking in the forums today because file Vault is on, but once I unlock the disk at startup, it DOES AUTOMATICALLY log in my admin account, with no intermediate screen for different users to log in. It didn't used to to this before I updated remote desktop in the pap store, which I don't use anyhow. I'd like it to go back to making me type my password twice- once to unlock the disk, and once to log myself in as a user, but it no longer does this... I'm certain I've got file vault on, and automatic login in the users pane is totally greyed out, even after I click the lock icon and authenticate, it won't give me the option of doing anything with the automatic login setting, and it's marked as disabled anyhow.

but yet,

it's logging my admin account in anyhow. I'd love to fix this to make it more secure. right no, anyone can get into my computer at the admin lever once the disk is unlocked, and no other users even get the option at startup to login in unless I let it start all the way up, then log myself out once the desktop is ready for use.

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Answer 2

Niel

Level 10

727,481 points

Sep 8, 2016 9:44 AM in response to tygb

It isn’t possible to log in automatically when FileVault is enabled.

(144487)

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Answer 3

tygb Author

Level 9

64,610 points

Sep 9, 2016 12:41 AM in response to Niel

Hello !

Please research on it , and suggest me some solution there could be a way , i hope so will try to solve this question as you are very senior participant and quite very much technical .

Regards,

Thanks !

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Answer 4

Niel

Level 10

727,481 points

Sep 9, 2016 6:22 AM in response to tygb

From one of Apple’s Knowledge Base articles: If FileVault is turned on, manual login is required for all accounts.

(144510)

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Answer 5

tygb Author

Level 9

64,610 points

Sep 9, 2016 6:49 AM in response to Niel

Thanks for replying me , i really appreciate it .

But in the article it is written :

If automatic login is unavailable for an account

When manual login is required, the “Automatic login” menu is dimmed or doesn't show the account name:

If FileVault is turned on, manual login is required for all accounts. You can turn FileVault off.
If an account uses an iCloud password to log in, manual login is required for that account. You might also see the message “A user with an encrypted home folder can't log in automatically.” When changing the account password, you can choose not to use the iCloud password.

I want in such a way turn on file vault , at the same time automatic login should be enabled .

Some terminal command can change the rule .

Waiting for your prompt reply .

Thanks !

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Answer 6

tygb Author

Level 9

64,610 points

Sep 10, 2016 10:50 AM in response to tygb

At last i worked on this subject and found a way , and executed the second command in the article

OS X: How to disable automatic login when FileVault is enabled - Apple Support

Thanks ! Niel you are the best .

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Answer 7

Sep 12, 2016 3:36 AM in response to tygb

Please note that if you enable automatic login when using FileVault you have just made using FileVault completely and utterly pointless. This is because your computer now logs in automatically giving a cyber-crimminal complete access to all your files even though you encrypted your machine.

This is why Apple normally disable auto-login if you enable FileVault.

Similarly if you use FileVault and forget to encrypt your backups then again you leave yourself wide open to a criminal accessing your files - this time in the un-encrypted backup. Again Apple try and help you here, Time Machine allows making encrypted backups.

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Answer 8

dialabrain

Level 10

122,723 points

Sep 12, 2016 3:39 AM in response to tygb

tygb wrote:

At last i worked on this subject and found a way , and executed the second command in the article

OS X: How to disable automatic login when FileVault is enabled - Apple Support

Thanks ! Niel you are the best .

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