System Keychain Cleaner??

I received the following pop-up on my Macbook Pro running OSX Mt Lion (10.8.2):
"systemkeychaincleaner is trying to modify the system keychain. Type your password to allow this."
Can anyone tell me if it is safe? Is this a legitimate unction of Monutain Lion, or is it a third party program that somehow got installed on my machine?
Thank you

I got the same window when installing the Wyse Pocketcloud Companion on my Mac, so that I could connect to my Mac from my Android phone. (I had previously installed the Android client on my Android phone, and then it instructed me to install the Wyse Pocketcloud Companion on my desktop computer).
Honestly, it's probably legit, seeing as how Wyse Pocketcloud has like 25,000 4.5-star ratings in the Google Play Store (that's their silly name for app store).
Nonetheless, I balked halfway through the installation of the Wyse Pocketcloud Companion for Mac software, because it wanted me to open a port on my router. I simply don't do this anymore, and have to live with the inconvenience of not being able remotely to log on to my machines, because I had some unwelcomed activity a long time ago from some random IP from Asia and it kind of freaked me out. Gotta lot of sensitive information on my machine!

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System Keychain Issue?

I am prompted to manually log into a network on startup. I've tried many things to fix it ... first aid, deleted airport preferences, deleted keychains, created new admin users, deleted networks, deleted passwords from the keychain, & even reinstalled the system twice. I had a similar problem with my mail preferences that were fixed when I reset the user keychains. My hunch at this point is that the "system" keychain is corrupted. Does anybody know how to easily reset the system keychain. My next step is a 100% clean install of the entire hard drive if I can't figure this out.
Message was edited by: C G Weber
Message was edited by: C G Weber

Mokkdoom, give this a try:
Open Keychain app. (Utilities folder).
At the bottom left, under the sidebar, click on 'Show Keychains'.
The top of the sidebar slides down to reveal keychains - click on 'System'.
You'll see in the main large window to the right the keychain you need to delete (AirPort?).
Delete it from the Edit menu (or the delete key on your keyboard). It'll be recreated next time you are asked for a password, but won't keep pestering you after that (if all goes well!).
Go to the bottom left of the window and click on Hide Keychains.
See if that does the trick. I can't claim credit for it - it's a problem/solution that's been mentioned often on these forums.

Can I remove all but the last "Mac OS X Server certificate management" application password from my System Keychain?

I am slowly nursing a broken Montain Lion Server back to health. The problems started with a name change days ago then went sour, probably because of some stuff in the keychain that tripped the commands up.
I have now a trusted Root CA in my System Keychain which has signed my wildcard Certificate for my domain and all my services are protected by this wildcard certificate. Creating and installing that certificate helped me back (slowly) but there are still problems to solve
I also have set the com.apple.servermgrd identity preference to this (now trusted) wildcard certificate a few minutes ago
I am busy cleaning as much as possibe of junk from my Keychains to improve stability, of course without damaging things (I hope)
There are 19 "Mac OS X Server certificate management" application passwords in my System Keychain.
12 are from 9 days ago when I installed this clean OS X Mountain Lion Server for the first time, created within a minute during server install.
1 from 6 minutes later, maybe when I turned on a Service
2 are from that day, but 2 and 3 hours later (also probably because of something I did in Server.app, like enabling a service)
1 from 2 days later (probably when I tried to change the server name/domain)
1 from again 5 days later (probably when I tried to change the server name/domain again)
1 from yesterday, when I changed the servername
1 from today, when I changed the server name again.
What are these application passwords for and can I safely remove all but the last one? What are they for?

I went ahead and remove them a month ago. So far, there don't seem to be any issues. As long as you double-triple-check that the hash-number in those "Mac OS X Server certificate management" keychains _aren't_ in the filename of any of the *.pem files in the /etc/certificates folder, you can delete those orphan keychains.

My System Keychain is empty OS 10.6.8

I have been unable to access Time Capsule. I did a factory reset and got part way through the set up, but my admin password didn't work and I couldn't complete. Lately I been having a problem accessing the Keychain System passwords, though I know what they're set at. Somehow they've reverted to previous versions and I can't change them--they act like they're changing but when I check back they're as they were. Lately I have been getting access restricted notices and I can't access them at all. There is a weird System entry put there by my dealer when I went in for repairs. I couldn't access it or delete it, didn't have priviledges.
To get around this I planned a HD erase and install. I figured I could get rid of the strange entry and be able to access the items in System Keychain. I first backed up on a new WD Passport: Time Capsule on a large partition, and my iMac HD with its folders on a 125 GB partition. I erased and reinstalled OS 10.6 and all its updates. The Passport wouldn't mount and I could find no remedy for this. (WD support is in a strange state.) Time Capsule still wasn't showing. So I tried to recontact TC by the factory reset. When I got to the flashing yellow light phase, and withheld the bent paper clip, the light showed unblinking yellow. TC still couldn't be found by Airport Utility.

This I think is the final. At one point (above) the TC was in fact sending WiFi, my Kindle picked it up. I didn't recognize the source and Airport didn't either. I'm in an apartment complex and I didn't think much of it--but I should have. I was able to reset TC(above) and get to go Green, but Kindle found no useable WiFi signal. Green, but no signal. I was never again able to connect with sparse.bundle hooking up Cox's modem to TC and the TC by Ethernet to the iMac. I was able connect to the internet, but nothing else: TC steady green. I think its HD may be dead, no starting vibrations felt--I'll get to the Apple Store and see. It's in warrantee.
I downloaded a trial antivirus or cleaning program and it found a non-native "helper" in Unix that sent out error messages that stopped its going on. Reading David Pogue's The Missing Manual, I learned that a guest account protected-file in the Unix sub-system is beyond an administrtor's reach. If he tries to get in he'll get, "Permission denied." This helper goes well beyond that. He takes preemptive action before he can be asked. I know this beast! I would have to say, in a way, its solved: I'll take the iMac back to the authorized repair firm and suggest they fix it. Transportation will have to be arranged. I am waiting for an iMac I think will be revealed next week. I'll have to not connect it to anything that's been connected to my old one: the bug travels. All of the files and folders in old backups are now closed with altered permissions. When I go to have the TC evaluated and maybe replaced, I'll ask them what to do.

System.keychain rejects password

Status:
....system.keychain (in Library/keychains).
....user.keychain (in user/Library/keychains).
....a previous.keychain (my default, in user/Library/keychains).
....login.keychain (in user/Library/keychains, but not in Keychain Access list).
Problem:
Recently, the system.keychain stopped recognizing my password. I can unlock it from within Keychain Access, delete a network password item, but can't show password. Keychain first aid doesn't see or repair the problem. Neither does repair permissions in Disk Utility. The system.keychain contains almost nothing, so I don't need to retrieve passwords, etc. User keychains work fine and have all my valued content.
How can I reset, replace, repair the system.keychain while leaving user keychains intact? Could this be done by logging in as root user? What is the relationship between system and root with respect to keychain? Netinfo Manager? Thanks, -Henrik

Okay baltwo:
I had an empty 5GB partition set aside. I installed Tiger 10.4 , setting up the same user and password as that which was problematic, updated to OS 10.4.10, replaced the system.keychain with the new one....the problem persists. (I'm leaving out the re-boots, Keychain First Aid, permissions repair...) Then, I even tried other suggestions that I found on the net, like deleting the system keychain folder. No go.
So, I did a clean erase and install again on this 5GB partition and skipped the network setup (joining my network using my WEP key was about the only thing I did with this new, clean system). This is crazy, but this virgin OS 10.4, out of the box DVD, no updates, on its own partition has the same problem! When system.keychain requires my password, it is rejected. When authentication is requested by other processes user.keychain, login.keychain, system.keychain.access, system.keychain.modify, system.preferences, etc. there is no problem: the password is accepted. How can this be??
Henrik
FYI: In May when my 20GB factory HD died (also an Hitachi TravelStar), I installed a new 60GB Hitachi TravelStar 5K120, 5400 rpm HD. I didn't think it was relevant to mention. I have had no hardware or software problems, other than this thread, and I've done regular maintenance and optimization with TechTool Pro 4.5.

Keychain: 'System' keychain? 'System Roots'? What?

I've considered using Keychain Access for the first real time, as I'm tired of using the same unsafe password everywhere. At work we had security issue and I started collecting and changing each password, and logging them on a sheet securely stored in a safe. It's not that important anyway.
However here I'm on a Mac and I wanted to give security a try...
First I fired up Keychain Access and found 3 keychains in the list, being: login, System and System Roots. I understand that login is tied with my login password and will unlock each time I log in.
However, I have no clue about the 2 other keychains, and wonder if they even need to be here. As I'm planning a nice clean start, I was wondered if I could just erase those? I thought that if something needed my password, I'd simply feed it, since I'm aware of all the existing password on this mac; it has only be my own.
So... what is the un-signed or un-trusted certificates I've found under the 'System' keychain?
And the whole lot of certificates (only certificates this time) I've found under 'System Roots'?
Can I clear these? I remember having created no certificates at all, and the names or text in these certificates does not mean anything to me, nor sound a bell.
Thank you if you can be of any help
Alex

I've been looking at the Kechain access help. So far I'm a bit lost between terms and nouns, but it's not so bad.
Thanks for the info.
Any more details about these?

Keychain error -25299 occurred while creating a System Keychain entry for t

Keychain error -25299 occurred while creating a System Keychain entry for the username “Angela Rosario” and URL “afp://Angela%[email protected]/Data”.
I keep getting the error above every time I try to set up my time capsule
Could use some help?
Mahalo

Same here.

System cache cleaning - when is it safe, and when is not?

System cache cleaning is one of those so-called "maintenance" tasks that you may read about on the forums on Mac OS X guides that has mixed reviews, and typically is not necessary. In fact, when it is done at the wrong time, data corruption can lead to a situation where an erase and reinstall is necessary. I can't reproduce it easily, but I will say I've had it happen to at least three of my clients, so it is not as random as one would hope.
You've probably heard of browser cache, and that's safe to clean anytime you like. One thing you'll notice about when you do, is that some websites will load slower, and others will load faster depending on your internet connection, and the frequency those websites get updated.
System cache on the other hand which you'll find in ByHost and Cache folders in your Hard drive -> Library, System -> Library, Users -> yourname -> Library are a much more sensitive type of file. These will optimize the speed of frequently done operations on the operating system itself as well as specific applications which require those folders. When one of these files get corrupted, programs won't launch, will unexpectedly quit, will launch and close on their own, and in some cases Disk Utility won't function normally, or System Preference panels won't launch. To avoid these problems:
1. Only do system cache cleaning after your data is completely backed up to your satisfaction, so that a system restore won't waste your time.
2. Do it when no other applications are running, and there are no memory resident programs that may be affected by such cleaning in Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Accounts -> Login or Startup Items. Check the Process or Activity Viewer applications for applications you might have installed.
3. Do not allow the process to be interrupted until it is finished. If any power outage happens, you may be left with a corrupted cache file.
If you have a corrupted cache problem, attempt to isolate if it is happening just to one account by creating another account with Apple Menu -> System Preferences -> Accounts with admin access and see if it impacts that account as well. Do the following depending on whether or not it does affect that account:
1. If isolated to one user, go back to the user and delete that user's Library folder's cache files relating to system and Launchservices, and log out and log back in the user twice. If it disappears as a problem once, and reappears, something you are running is persistentantly corrupting that user's cache folder, and you may have to move all the non-corrupt files to the new user.
2. If it is not isolated to the user go to the System and Library folders under the hard drive and see if the Launchservices files and System cache files are removed if the issue disappears on reboot, and if it does, does it reappear after a second reboot. If it reappears after a second reboot, then you have the scary prospect of an erase and install of your system.
Don't use automatic utilities to manage your system or user cache files. If anything only manually clean the cache when it is necessary and you have corrupted files. The cache is there to speed your system, and should otherwise not be touched.

System cache cleaning is one of those so-called "maintenance" tasks that you may read about on the forums on Mac OS X guides that has mixed reviews, and typically is not necessary. In fact, when it is done at the wrong time, data corruption can lead to a situation where an erase and reinstall is necessary. I can't reproduce it easily, but I will say I've had it happen to at least three of my clients, so it is not as random as one would hope.
You've probably heard of browser cache, and that's safe to clean anytime you like. One thing you'll notice about when you do, is that some websites will load slower, and others will load faster depending on your internet connection, and the frequency those websites get updated.
System cache on the other hand which you'll find in ByHost and Cache folders in your Hard drive -> Library, System -> Library, Users -> yourname -> Library are a much more sensitive type of file. These will optimize the speed of frequently done operations on the operating system itself as well as specific applications which require those folders. When one of these files get corrupted, programs won't launch, will unexpectedly quit, will launch and close on their own, and in some cases Disk Utility won't function normally, or System Preference panels won't launch. To avoid these problems:
1. Only do system cache cleaning after your data is completely backed up to your satisfaction, so that a system restore won't waste your time.
2. Do it when no other applications are running, and there are no memory resident programs that may be affected by such cleaning in Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Accounts -> Login or Startup Items. Check the Process or Activity Viewer applications for applications you might have installed.
3. Do not allow the process to be interrupted until it is finished. If any power outage happens, you may be left with a corrupted cache file.
If you have a corrupted cache problem, attempt to isolate if it is happening just to one account by creating another account with Apple Menu -> System Preferences -> Accounts with admin access and see if it impacts that account as well. Do the following depending on whether or not it does affect that account:
1. If isolated to one user, go back to the user and delete that user's Library folder's cache files relating to system and Launchservices, and log out and log back in the user twice. If it disappears as a problem once, and reappears, something you are running is persistentantly corrupting that user's cache folder, and you may have to move all the non-corrupt files to the new user.
2. If it is not isolated to the user go to the System and Library folders under the hard drive and see if the Launchservices files and System cache files are removed if the issue disappears on reboot, and if it does, does it reappear after a second reboot. If it reappears after a second reboot, then you have the scary prospect of an erase and install of your system.
Don't use automatic utilities to manage your system or user cache files. If anything only manually clean the cache when it is necessary and you have corrupted files. The cache is there to speed your system, and should otherwise not be touched.

How do I go about setting up my new wireless all-in-one Epson XP-215 printer to my MacBook Pro? The system is not automatically detecting the printer ad the furthest I get is "System" keychain user and pswd but I am a new user to Mac.

I am a new user to Mac and trying to set up an Epson XP-215 All-in-One printer without any success. The Mac Book Pro is not recogising the Printer automatically and when following the instructions to add the printer, it gets as far as a display box for teh user and password for "System" Keychain but I am not sure what info to add there...
The printer is meant to have a function calle dAir Print also that is meant to be used for Mac but I cannot figure out any of this! Why would the MacBook Pro not automatically pic up the printer? Please help...

If you have not already done so, you should read the user manual that came w/the printer and/or contact Epson tech support.
Check out the following KB Articles:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14141 OS X Mavericks: Reset the printing system
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669 Printer and scanner software available for download
Also check out What to do when you can't print

The System.keychain Conundrum: THE REAL SOLUTION.

Symptom: After applying an update or some kind of instance where a shutdown occurred, upon rebooting, Mac OS X will demand a password for System.keychain. No password will ever work, not even root.
I had this happen to me and no one anywhere seemed to know how to fix it except for temporary workarounds that really didn't work.
First off, let me tell you what WON'T work as a solution:
1. Deleting offending AirPort network passwords in System.keychain - All you're doing is making OS X forget the passwords of those base stations in your Preferred Networks list (Network Preferences). If you attempt to put the passwords back and apply the changes, OS X will again demand the password for System.keychain.
2. Keychain First Aid - It will think that nothing is wrong with System.keychain, so as long as it is there.
3. Repair Permissions - Everyone believes that repairing permissions is the cure-all method for any problem with Mac OS X. It won't work because it already has the correct permissions (root:admin 755).
4. Deleting System.keychain itself - You won't ever get it back, and any base station added to your list of trusted networks will not have its password saved. Sure, it may save for YOUR login.keychain, but what if you have multiple users?
5. Replacing System.keychain with another from a known good system - This doesn't work either, and I'll explain why a little later.
6. Deleting /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist - That has nothing to do with the problem.
7. Duplicating your login.keychain and renaming it as System.keychain - Sure, you'll be able to unlock it with your admin password, but that doesn't solve the problem.
No one - not even from Apple themselves (phone reps and store Genius
Bars) - knew how to fix this issue. Google or search the discussion boards all you want; you'll be wasting your time as no one really seems to know what the problem is and have employed one of those seven methods.
NOW FOR THE SOLUTION...
WARNING: This assumes that you are competent with the command line AND you have a working copy of OS X somewhere else nearby, preferably on an external disk partition. I'm not going to explain the basics of using the Terminal or how to access both of your systems at the same time. If you are afraid of screwing up, simply reinstall Mac OS X and say a few prayers that it will fix itself (assuming that another Software Update won't mess it up again).
The problem lies with a file deep in the bowels of OS X. It's /var/db/SystemKey. What it does is that it tells Mac OS X how to unlock the system keychain. It only knows the System.keychain specific to the computer, so if you import another System.keychain as a replacement, SystemKey won't know how to unlock it and you'll keep getting the annoying dialogs prompting for System.keychain's password.
So without further ado, this is how to stop the annoying dialogs once and for all:
1. AS THE ROOT USER, you will need to copy over /var/db/SystemKey from a known good system to your problematic system. Make sure that you preserve the permissions (0400). It is advisable that you are NOT booted from your problematic system.
2. If you have a good System.keychain, copy that over to /Library/Keychains on the problem system. If you accidentally deleted System.keychain, you can execute the following (again AS ROOT):
/usr/sbin/systemkeychain -C -f
This creates a new, working, empty System.keychain and effectively overwrites the old keychain.
3. Reboot to your system. You will be presented with different, more familiar (Change, Change All) dialogs. If you had any passwords saved in your list of preferred networks, just put them back in.
Best of luck.

A method that worked for me (and many others):
Delete the wireless router entry from the System keychain (do not just delete the password). The entry will automatically get re-created from the similar entry in the login (user) keychain. This solution was posted here within a few days of the release of 10.4.3.
bd

Should the passwords in 'System keychain' (in Keychain Access) normally be accessible to the owner/administrator?

Should the passwords in 'System keychain' (in Keychain Access) normally be accessible to the owner/administrator or not?
If not, would it be possible to gain access via the Root Account?
I can access the passwords in 'Login keychain' (in Keychain Access). But when I try to access the passwords in 'System keychain' I'm asked for the Keychain Access password! I've never set such a password. I've only ever used one password - my owner/administrator password. But this isn't accepted when I try to access the passwords in 'System keychain'.
Please note, this question was previously posted in the OSX Tiger forum but no-one offered an answer
Thanks,
iHope

Seems this is a characteristic of the system keychain.
Check out this thread...and furtwanglerian's response....
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8767033&#8767033
closed

System Keychain Password

After some security issues I wanted to do some deleting/updating of passwords.
My System Keychain holds passwords for my wireless networks, however , the password I enter after the prompt is not recognised.
I did a Keychain firstaid and all is well?
Any suggestions?

You can't unlock the system.keychain - the password is known only to the system. If you need to remove items from it, open Terminal and type:
sudo systemkeychain -vfcC
This will create a new, blank system keychain.
The options are documented here:
http://darwinsource.opendarwin.org/Current/security_systemkeychain-11/src/system keychain.cpp
Once you have recreated the keychain, you can test if it unlocks properly with:
systemkeychain -vt
The options used above are:
-v = verbose
-f = force
-c = create if needed
-C = setup system
-t = test unlock

System Keychain Empty

So this afternoon my system keychain was automatically replaced with a new one somehow. In /libray/keychains there is the new one "system.keychain" and the one that I have used forever "system.keychain.2010-04-23.13/06/52". Why the **** did the system create a new one!?? I REALLY need the passwords from the old one and it won't let me import it or anything. Please help if you can. Thanks!

Yeah, I tried that a little bit ago. They system just nuked the renamed version and created another new system keychain. I was able to boot from an old image that contained the most important passwords I needed so I manually re-entered them, so the problem is "taken care of". Not really, but as long as it doesn't do it again I'm okay.
I with Time Machine worked with keychain access... it would make it soo much easier! Oh well!

System keychain problem (2 system keychains)

This issue is not new but I have seen no resolution.
I have a wifi with a password. I can use the wifi but can't remember the security password that I created for it. I went to Keychain Access to see it, and found the wifi listed in the "System" keychain. There are two "System" keychains, with identical contents, which seems odd. When I open the wifi item in the "System" keychain and click on "show password" it asks me for the "keychain password" which it then does not accept. The "keychain password" (or what I set up as the "keychain password") works on the "login" keychain and also an auxiliary keychain I created to store other passwords--there is no problem in revealing the information for these logins/passwords, using my usual passwords--the only problem is on the "System" keychain. My login password for my account is different from my keychain password, but this has not previously caused a problem. How can I get to this wifi password? What is going on with the System keychain, which seems to have created for itself a new, unknown password? Thanks.

OK, figured it out. My wife and I have had the same passwords since we turned on the computer, BUT, I had originally been the admin. A while back, for security, we decided to create a separate account for the admin, (with a new password, obviously), and remove admin privileges for my account.
So, just now, I logged into the admin account and opened keychain access, and there was the wifi device right on the top of the list, no "system" keychain present. I clicked on the "show password" box on the wifi item and the password was revealed. No "keychain password" or any other password requested. Very odd, and still no idea why the "system" keychain is so crazy or why there are two of them, but I'll take it. Thanks for your responses and ideas.

System keychain

I think i have a problem with the system keychain. When i try to save the password for the vpn connections, nothing happens (the password field become empty); it's impossible to do time capsule backup and post this error: "Error -25308 when creating the entry of the system keychain for the username ...". I think that system keychain non longer accessible by my user.
May someone help me?

First of all check, in Terminal, /Library/Keychains/System.keychain permissions which are
ls -la /Library/Keychains/System.keychain
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel - 36768 21 Nov 09:47 System.keychain
also issue this command
security show-keychain-info /Library/Keychains/System.keychain
should return
Keychain "/Library/Keychains/System.keychain" lock-on-sleep timeout=300s
These are the default values.

System Keychain Cleaner??

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