---
name: "lockvc20b"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "lockvc"
version: "2.0b-3"
release: "Debian 1.3 (Bo)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/lockvc"
---

# lockvc20b(1)

Part of [lockvc(1)](/lockvc/1.md).

## NAME

*LockVC* -- console-locking-program / starfield screensaver.

## SYNOPSIS

**lockvc** \[*number of stars*\] \[*stride-value*\]

Start lockvc with the number of displayed stars and the starfield's stride value as arguments. Try out the settings that fit best for your system. A 486/33 displays 500 stars at full frame rate with ease, so the default values are 500 stars with a stride of 9.

## DESCRIPTION

You're familiar with the situation: You leave your computer alone to get a bottle of the world's most famous soft drink, and when you come back, your terminal's taken, your data's lost, your resources destroyed, and the system's admin is asking you about those postings you've made on alt.binaries.pictures.erotica. Now it is too late to be sorry. You should have known better: This happened a thousand times before. Until now...

*LockVC* is a console-locking-program combined with a starfield screensaver. The actual version at this date (Dez 95) is 1.9. Executing *LockVC* on a virtual console brings up a starfield that starts to rotate around all three axes. All virtual consoles get locked, i.e. you cannot change to another VC and you can't stop the program by pressing any key-combos (apart from ctrl-alt-delete, if not disabled by your admin). You can only exit the program by entering your system-password. Root's password will also terminate lockvc. The time, that the VCs can be locked may be limited by your system's admin.  This will be displayed on executing lockvc. If you fail to exit lockvc within this time, lockvc will terminate all your processes and log you out.

The starfield uses vga-routines, so svgalib is required on your system and lockvc has to be run with root-privileges.

## AUTHORS

*LockVC* was written by Matthias Straub, *University of Karlsruhe, Germany* (s\_straub@ira.uka.de).

Shadow Password Support and Man Page added by Eddie Beaumont *(Morlok)* (morlok@abyss.apana.org.au).

## BUGS

None anymore, hopefully.