Two System keychains in Keychain Access

Hi there
When I go into Keychain Access I see two 'system' keychains listed. I believe they are multiple references to the same keychain. Is this something I should worry about and might it affect system performance?
Many thanks
Paul Blake
Macbook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

it's still just one system keychain. you just opened it twice. this is quite harmless. if it really bothers you quit keychain access and delete the file /users/username/library/preferences/com.apple.security.plist. then start keychain access and there will be just one system keychain there.

Similar Messages

Two "system" keychains -- erased logins?

On two occasions, I opened Safari and was prompted for an autofill password, and then again in Mail, I was prompted for an IMAP password that I easily have not had to enter for months.
Upon opening up Keychain, I found that there were hardly any logins (this could be possible since I run this system on a hardwire), but there were two "system" keychains. I hadn't been prompted prior for a password upon opening Safari, and the fact that the login for my IMAP wasn't saving when entered (and checked to save in keychain) was a concern. Any help as to the cause behind these nuances would be much appreciated.

it's still just one system keychain. you just opened it twice. this is quite harmless. if it really bothers you quit keychain access and delete the file /users/username/library/preferences/com.apple.security.plist. then start keychain access and there will be just one system keychain there.

TWO System keychains?

Out of curiosity, I double-clicked on "System.keychain" in /Library/Keychains. Keychain Access opened, and now shows two "System" keychains in its list on the left. Both appear to have identical contents, and both are in the same location (/Library/Keychains/System.keychain) according to the little "tool-tip" that pops up when I hover over each of them.
Does anyone know: Shouldn't there be only one System.keychain? How/why did the other appear, and how can I get rid of it?

it's still just one system keychain. you just opened it twice. this is quite harmless. if it really bothers you quit keychain access and delete the file /users/username/library/preferences/com.apple.security.plist. then start keychain access and there will be just one system keychain there.

System Keychain Access

There's an item in the System keychain that I'd like to get in and examine / change -- its an item relating to wireless access to my corporate network. Unfortunately, none of the passwords I enter seem to be able to unlock the keychain (my own account which is an admin account, root itself). How do I get into System so I can maintain it?

Thanks for the link -- the thread was most helpful. Since this all came about as a result of changing my Active Directory password on the corporate network, the info in that thread tends to confirm my suspicion that the system entry is overriding the entry that I changed.
I'm not sure that I agree with Jim R.'s commentary, though:
Nobody owns the system keychain really, not even root. The System keychain is a shared keychain the system uses the store items available for all user accounts on the computer. If it were owned by root and had the root password, then other accounts would need the root password in order to use it. The fact that it doesn't allow you to view stored passwords is a security measure. This way, users can use system-wide resources that have been set up without actually knowing the passwords, not even other admins.
The reason for having root is to be able to alter system resources that others can access. There are many other resources in the system that can be accessed by everyone but altered only by root. Now we can argue about whether others in the System Admin group can modify a resource, but root should definitely be able to access and alter every resource on the system; every other O/S I've used has at least one such account. Without it, you give up the ability to control your own system.
Thanks,
--Gregory

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.

What is the key to Keychain Access?

Having recently used Target Disk Mode to successfully rescue my files and reinstall them, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself … BUT! When I went to checkout Keychain Access I found I could only remember the password for the keychain I had created to keep track of the many different Username/Password combinations I have collected over time. I couldn't unlock my "login" keychain.
Since most login details were itemised in the "~" keychain (as mentioned), I thought I would simply Reset the "login" keychain. I must have had the"~" keychain selected, because it disappeared and I ended up with two "login" keychains showing in Keychain Access!
Somehow after that when I went looking, trying to figure out what had gone wrong, and seeking to delete one of the two "login" keychains, they both disappeared from Keychain Access and I was left with no one but two "System" keychains showing.
At this point I decided to leave 'bad enough' alone and see if someone in the Apple Discussions community can put me right. I should point out that in my ~/Library/Keychains folder there are three files: "login.keychain", "~.keychain" and "MicrosoftIntermediateCertificates"; none of which appear in Keychain Access. Why is this so and is there a way to persuade the OS to accept them back again. I note that when I click on File>Import, they appear 'dulled' and cannot be selected - even when dragged to the desktop.
Yes I love my Mac … but sometimes the relation gets a bit strained.

Not sure how we're going to get out of this, but a few links...
Mac OS X 10.4: Keychain Access asks for keychain "login" after changing login password...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1631
How do I reset a Mac OS X Keychain Password?...
http://www.tech-faq.com/reset-mac-os-x-keychain-password.shtml
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1631
There can be 3 locations for Keychains...
/Library/Keychains
/System/Library/Keychains
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Keychains
Open Keychain Access in Utilities, use Keychain First Aid under the Menu item, then either check the Password under that item, change it, or delete it and start over.
Resetting your keychain in Mac OS X...
If Keychain First Aid finds an issue that it cannot repair, or if you do not know your keychain password, you may need to reset your keychain.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1544
Drag this file to the desktop and reboot...
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.keychainaccess.plist

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.

Two entries in Keychain Access with same name

I created a new keychain called "new-system" using Keychain Access. I set the password of this keychain to something besides my login password. Then I read something that I would not have to keep entering the keychain password to unlock the keychain if I changed the keychain's password to be my login password. I did this.
Now, when I invoke Keychain Access, I have two entries for "new-system" listed under keychains in the upper left. Each of these keychains takes a different password.
What is happening?

Hi V.K.
There are 2 files in ~/users/'myname'/library/keychains/
login.keychain and 'myname'.keychain
In Keychain Access however, I have 2 x login and 1 x 'myname'.
Thanks for your interest!
(I also have 2 x login in every other account including root... and I've used the Keychain Access "First-Aid" etc. etc. on them in every possible combination)
Message was edited by: vectr

MB Air won't let me sign in to iCloud from System Preferences. I reset Keychain Access and deleted Accounts plist. No problem signing in via web and on other Mac.

Hi all.
I've just been given an Air. I used Migration Assistant to transfer everything (which didn't work very well: no Contacts transferred and the Air Contacts application can't even open manually transferred Contacts Archive .vcf).
Trying to transfer contacts led me to iCloud - I thought I could copy them from there. Then I discovered that I can't sign in to iCloud via System Preferences. I get two error messages. The most common one is 'you cannot sign in at this time'. I've tried every solution on the web: I reinstalled Yosemite. I reset Keychain Access. I deleted Accounts plist.
The other message I occasionally get is 'This is a valid Apple ID but not an iCloud account'. It is: I'm logged on fine on my MBP, iPhone and iPad.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance,
Aida

So - I have been having this same issue, and while it's not totally resolved for me, I have figured out what's causing it. I am running a machine with two hard drives and to keep my documents on a separate drive from the OS/Applications, I used the Advanced Option to specify the location of my home drive for my user account under "Users & Groups". I've found that if I reset this to the default path of /Macintosh HD/Users/{username}, that it works fine. However Apple has a bug in that this functionality breaks when you specify your own home directory. Hopefully, this will be addressed in an update.

No keychain access or system profiler or mail - very alarmed

Today I repaired permissions and backed up my system to an external drive with silverkeeper 1.3. I also ran Macjanitor 1.2.1. I have been using OS 10.4.3 for about 3 weeks with no problem although just lately things seemed a little slow, which is why I was doing maintainance. Everything was working fine, includin Mail, after the maintenance. Shut down.
Returned home, started up, Mail icon bounces once, won't open. System Profiler opens but won't run. Keychain access bounces in the dock once, stops. Safari is fine, so is Address book. Disk Utility can open but only gives me the option to restore a disk. The disk utility log says "No icon found for DMdisk object" This is getting VERY SCARY!
Anyone have any ideas? I am pretty sure macjanitor was a dumb thing to do as it wasn't the latest version and maybe isn't tiger compatible.. Has it trashed something essential?
Thanks
Phoebe

This crash followed a backup to an external drive. Didn't read the part in the instructions that say "always create a fresh backup after installing a new system"
Had to reinstall then restore files from the backup.

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

Keychain Access is crashing my system

I'm having a problem, the root of which I believe is Keychain Access.app. Not exactly sure when it started happening. I'm on a Dual 2.5 G5 PowerMac, 4GB RAM, 250GB HD, OS 10.4.10.
Here's the progression of events:
If I update an app that has passwords stored in my keychain (any app, Apple or 3rd party), the next time I open that app I'm greeted with the following message:
Appname has been updated. Do you want to allow the new version to access the same keychain items (such as passwords) as the previous version?
This change is permanent and affects all keychain items used by Appname.
Don't Change/Change All
If I click Change All the system pauses for a few moments and I get a message saying:
Your startup disk is almost full.
You need to make more space available on your startup disk by deleting files.
? Do not warn me about this disk again.
And if I Get Info on my hard drive I can see that it has 138.37 GB available, which is correct.
The system continues to act wonky until I restart. For example, I can't empty the trash because I do not have enough permissions. Any applications that require Keychain Access.app for passwords can't access their passwords. I can't even unlock the system prefs after this happens, it just hangs when I click the lock icon. Upon opening Keychain Access.app after the events described above (but before restarting) all of my keychains are missing! They come back after I restart. Before I restart, if I try to Fast User Switch to a different account, the system turns the screen-cube, but it never brings up a user list; instead it sits at a blue screen until I do a hard shutdown.
This happens every single time an app wants to update my keychain, without fail. I've tried running Keychain First Aid, Disk First Aid, and fsck (in single user mode). I've repaired the permissions. I've installed system updates (10.4.10) since this started happening. I made a new user and opened an app that requires keychain to update, and I ran into the exact same problems.
How can I fix this without resorting to Archive and Install? (Please don't just tell me to install Leopard---I'm going to do this eventually, and hopefully it will fix my problem, but I'm quite busy for the next few weeks and I can't take time enough away from my projects to do this.)

Yep, tried that too.
I don't have time to reinstall anything that might break in the Archive and Install process. Even if it's not likely that anything will break, I don't want to risk it. This computer is also currently being used to backup multiple TBs of data over the network. Guess I'll just A&I Leopard in a couple weeks.

Unauthorized Keychain Access - System

When I opened up the keychain access from Utilities I found something very strange. Under "System" I found an access titled " F* Bush", kind="airport network access", keychain="system". It took place on the same day I switched and installed a new wireless modem router (model DLINK DSL-G624T). On that day I also synchronized with my MacbookPro, which had unauthorized access over 1 year ago from this same "user" due to no encryption on the wireless network (didn't work with MacbookPro and former Netopia router which is why I changed).
When I try to "show password" and enter the admin ID and password I get a message "kcproxy wants to use your confidential information stored in "f* bush" in your keychain. Do you want to allow access to this item?"
Should I be concerned about this? I currently have WAP security in place to block unauthorized access. Not sure if it is too late.

Thanks for the link -- the thread was most helpful. Since this all came about as a result of changing my Active Directory password on the corporate network, the info in that thread tends to confirm my suspicion that the system entry is overriding the entry that I changed.
I'm not sure that I agree with Jim R.'s commentary, though:
Nobody owns the system keychain really, not even root. The System keychain is a shared keychain the system uses the store items available for all user accounts on the computer. If it were owned by root and had the root password, then other accounts would need the root password in order to use it. The fact that it doesn't allow you to view stored passwords is a security measure. This way, users can use system-wide resources that have been set up without actually knowing the passwords, not even other admins.
The reason for having root is to be able to alter system resources that others can access. There are many other resources in the system that can be accessed by everyone but altered only by root. Now we can argue about whether others in the System Admin group can modify a resource, but root should definitely be able to access and alter every resource on the system; every other O/S I've used has at least one such account. Without it, you give up the ability to control your own system.
Thanks,
--Gregory

System keychain appears twice in Keychain Access

Taking a rare look at Keychain Access app and notced that the System keychain appears twice consecutively. Is this usual? I'm loath to try deleting anything as they're identical and afraid that trashing one will do them both. Any advice?
cheers

Hi Reverend,
I wouldn't worry about it, I have a couple of Macs like that that I attribute to using Migration Assistant, (not sure), but have no problems with them in any way, shape, form or manner!

Keychain access application not working.

keychain not working, click on the generic app. icon and it simply pops up and closes. reloaded osx10.4.3, but no results. anyone have suggestions?
powerbook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Next step is to create a new admin user account, log into it, and see if the problem remains. If not, then it's a problem with the original account. If so, then the problem's system-wide.
If the original account, you have two options: 1) try to find the corrupted file, maybe the com.apple.keychainaccess.plist file in ~/Library/Preferences/. Move it to the desktop, log out and back in, relaunch Keychain Access. If that doesn't work, then check all the .plist files with something like Preferential Treatment. 2) reset your prefs in the new account and eventually delete the original.
If system-wide, then reinstalling the OS using the Archive & Install option, saving user and network settings, might be your only option, especially since reinstalling the combo update didn't fix the problem.

Two System keychains in Keychain Access

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