---
categories:
- Software Development
date: '2023-09-30 09:34:37'
draft: false
tags:
- til
title: 'TIL: Unlocking Ubuntu Remotely'
type: posts
url: /2023/09/30/til-unlocking-ubuntu-remotely/
---

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<p>My use case is starting a game stream from my steamdeck after my pc has locked itself. The game will start but the desktop lock screen/screensaver is visible and you can't play or do anything.</p>
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<p>You need to SSH in as the active user (from another device like your phone or another laptop) and run:</p>
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<!-- wp:enlighter/codeblock {"language":"bash"} -->
<pre class="EnlighterJSRAW" data-enlighter-language="bash" data-enlighter-theme="" data-enlighter-highlight="" data-enlighter-linenumbers="" data-enlighter-lineoffset="" data-enlighter-title="" data-enlighter-group="">loginctl list-sessions
</pre>
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<p>You will get a table output with a list of sessions:</p>
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<!-- wp:enlighter/codeblock {"language":"bash"} -->
<pre class="EnlighterJSRAW" data-enlighter-language="bash" data-enlighter-theme="" data-enlighter-highlight="" data-enlighter-linenumbers="" data-enlighter-lineoffset="" data-enlighter-title="" data-enlighter-group="">SESSION  UID USER  SEAT  TTY  
     38 1000 james       pts/1
     44 1000 james       pts/2
      5 1000 james seat0 tty2
</pre>
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<p>You want to take the one that has a seat allocated and run unlock against it:</p>
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<!-- wp:enlighter/codeblock {"language":"bash"} -->
<pre class="EnlighterJSRAW" data-enlighter-language="bash" data-enlighter-theme="" data-enlighter-highlight="" data-enlighter-linenumbers="" data-enlighter-lineoffset="" data-enlighter-title="" data-enlighter-group="">loginctl unlock-session 5
</pre>
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<p>Hopefully this will unlock the screen and your steamdeck screen will show the application you're trying to use.</p>
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<p><a href="https://askubuntu.com/questions/341014/unlock-login-screen-using-command-line">https://askubuntu.com/questions/341014/unlock-login-screen-using-command-line</a></p>
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