Gnus and authinfo

Gnus and authinfo

[Otto J. Makela]

Sorry if this is a very much FAQ item, but I really don't know where
else I could ask this question.

With an operating system upgrade (to Fedora Linux 39) I also got a emacs
upgrade (to version 29.1) Some time in the ancient past I've simply set

(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.eternal-september.org"))

in my .gnurc, and this still seems to work to select this as my default
nntp server. However, for some reason, the gnus 5.13 that came with this
emacs version no longer seems to read the plain-text .authinfo file from
my home directory.

So at every gnus start time it asks me to manually enter the username
and password for this nntp server. What has changed, has the plain-text
file been depreciated in favor of the pgp-encrypted version? I couldn't
find any information on such a change.

-- 
    /* * * Otto J. Makela <om@iki.fi> * * * * * * * * * */
   /* Phone: +358 40 765 5772, ICBM: N 60 10' E 24 55' */
  /* Mail: Mechelininkatu 26 B 27,  FI-00100 Helsinki */
/* * * Computers Rule 01001111 01001011 * * * * * * */

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Eric Abrahamsen]

"Otto J. Makela" <om@iki.fi> writes:

> Sorry if this is a very much FAQ item, but I really don't know where
> else I could ask this question.
>
> With an operating system upgrade (to Fedora Linux 39) I also got a emacs
> upgrade (to version 29.1) Some time in the ancient past I've simply set
>
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.eternal-september.org"))
>
> in my .gnurc, and this still seems to work to select this as my default
> nntp server. However, for some reason, the gnus 5.13 that came with this
> emacs version no longer seems to read the plain-text .authinfo file from
> my home directory.
>
> So at every gnus start time it asks me to manually enter the username
> and password for this nntp server. What has changed, has the plain-text
> file been depreciated in favor of the pgp-encrypted version? I couldn't
> find any information on such a change.

Both encrypted and unencrypted versions are supported; maybe the
`auth-sources' option only points at the encrypted version?

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Michael Heerdegen]

Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> writes:

> Both encrypted and unencrypted versions are supported; maybe the
> `auth-sources' option only points at the encrypted version?

Or - just guessing - maybe `epg-pinentry-mode' has to be set to
'loopback'?  AFAIR the default mode could lead to a behavior as
described.

Michael.

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Otto J. Makela]

On 11/30/23 13:48, Michael Heerdegen wrote:
> Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> writes:
>> Both encrypted and unencrypted versions are supported; maybe the
>> `auth-sources' option only points at the encrypted version?
> 
> Or - just guessing - maybe `epg-pinentry-mode' has to be set to
> 'loopback'?  AFAIR the default mode could lead to a behavior as
> described.

On my current emacs 29.1 describe-variable says for these:

auth-sources is a variable defined in ‘auth-source.el’.
Its value is ("~/.authinfo" "~/.authinfo.gpg" "~/.netrc")

epg-pinentry-mode is a variable defined in ‘epg-config.el’.
Its value is nil

Setting epg-pinentry-mode to be 'loopback' does not seem to
make any change here, it still asks for username and password.

As I said, I'm a bit lost here as to what I would need to change?

-- 
    /* * * Otto J. Makela <om@iki.fi> * * * * * * * * * */
   /* Phone: +358 40 765 5772, ICBM: N 60 10' E 24 55' */
  /* Mail: Mechelininkatu 26 B 27,  FI-00100 Helsinki */
/* * * Computers Rule 01001111 01001011 * * * * * * */

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[CHENG Gao via Announcements and discussions for GNUS, the GNU Emacs Usenet newsreader (in English)]

* On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 11:45:51 +0200
* Also sprach "Otto J. Makela" <om@iki.fi>:

> Setting epg-pinentry-mode to be 'loopback' does not seem to
> make any change here, it still asks for username and password.

Try (setq epg-pinentry-mode 'loopback) if not yet. HTH.

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Otto J. Makela]

On 12/4/23 16:15, CHENG Gao via Announcements and discussions for GNUS, the GNU Emacs Usenet newsreader (in English) wrote:
> * On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 11:45:51 +0200
> * Also sprach "Otto J. Makela" <om@iki.fi>:
> 
>> Setting epg-pinentry-mode to be 'loopback' does not seem to
>> make any change here, it still asks for username and password.
> 
> Try (setq epg-pinentry-mode 'loopback) if not yet. HTH.

As I said, it does not seem to make a difference (still asks for
username and password instead of reading them from .authinfo) when I
added that setq into my .emacs, except it really is that value now:

epg-pinentry-mode is a variable defined in ‘epg-config.el’.

Its value is ‘loopback’
Original value was nil

What are your suggestion on how should I go about debugging what goes awry?

-- 
    /* * * Otto J. Makela <om@iki.fi> * * * * * * * * * */
   /* Phone: +358 40 765 5772, ICBM: N 60 10' E 24 55' */
  /* Mail: Mechelininkatu 26 B 27,  FI-00100 Helsinki */
/* * * Computers Rule 01001111 01001011 * * * * * * */

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Michael Heerdegen via Announcements and discussions for GNUS, the GNU Emacs Usenet newsreader (in English)]

"Otto J. Makela" <om@iki.fi> writes:

> What are your suggestion on how should I go about debugging what goes
> awry?

Then it's something different.

Let's go on with Eric's answer: what's your value of the `auth-sources'
variable - does it include your source of authentication?

Michael.

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Eric S Fraga]

Just in case, my auth-sources variable is set to

((:source "~/s/dotfiles/authinfo.gpg")
 (:source "~/.authinfo"))

I wonder whether something has changed along the way that requires the
:directive element?
-- 
Eric S Fraga via gnus (Emacs 30.0.50 2023-09-14) on Debian 12.2

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Michael Heerdegen via Announcements and discussions for GNUS, the GNU Emacs Usenet newsreader (in English)]

Eric S Fraga <e.fraga@ucl.ac.uk> writes:

> Just in case, my auth-sources variable is set to
>
> ((:source "~/s/dotfiles/authinfo.gpg")
>  (:source "~/.authinfo"))
>
> I wonder whether something has changed along the way that requires the
> :directive element?

No idea.  My value is the default:

  ("~/.authinfo" "~/.authinfo.gpg" "~/.netrc")

never changed it.

Michael.

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Juergen Fenn]

Am 04.12.23 um 20:04 Uhr schrieb Michael Heerdegen via Announcements and
discussions for GNUS, the GNU Emacs Usenet newsreader (in English):
> No idea.  My value is the default:
>
>   ("~/.authinfo" "~/.authinfo.gpg" "~/.netrc")
>
> never changed it.

Same here. And login data is in my .authinfo, in plain text, so no need
for Gnus to ask for it:

machine news.SERVERNAME.org login USERNAME password PASSWORD

Regards,
Jürgen.

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[Leo Butler]

On Mon, Dec 04 2023, "Otto J. Makela" <om@iki.fi> wrote:

> On 12/4/23 16:15, CHENG Gao via Announcements and discussions for GNUS, the GNU Emacs Usenet newsreader (in English) wrote:
>> * On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 11:45:51 +0200
>> * Also sprach "Otto J. Makela" <om@iki.fi>:
>> 
>>> Setting epg-pinentry-mode to be 'loopback' does not seem to
>>> make any change here, it still asks for username and password.
>> Try (setq epg-pinentry-mode 'loopback) if not yet. HTH.
>
> As I said, it does not seem to make a difference (still asks for
> username and password instead of reading them from .authinfo) when I
> added that setq into my .emacs, except it really is that value now:
>
> epg-pinentry-mode is a variable defined in ‘epg-config.el’.
>
> Its value is ‘loopback’
> Original value was nil
>
> What are your suggestion on how should I go about debugging what goes awry?

I have had a similar experiences in the past. It was caused by the
username and/or servername in .authinfo.gpg not matching. I repeatedly
missed the problem, because I was convinced the problem was elsewhere.

Is this a possibility for you?

Best,
Leo

Re: Gnus and authinfo

[CHENG Gao via Announcements and discussions for GNUS, the GNU Emacs Usenet newsreader (in English)]

* On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 16:35:37 +0200
* Also sprach "Otto J. Makela" <om@iki.fi>:


[...]


> As I said, it does not seem to make a difference (still asks for
> username and password instead of reading them from .authinfo) when I
> added that setq into my .emacs, except it really is that value now:
>
> epg-pinentry-mode is a variable defined in ‘epg-config.el’.
>
> Its value is ‘loopback’
> Original value was nil
>
> What are your suggestion on how should I go about debugging what goes awry?


Could you please post redacted .authinfo item? Maybe you can try to add
"force yes" to .authinfo item of E-S login.