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KeyChain AutoUnlock
This mini-utility will automatically unlock your keychain on system startup. It will also unlock it whenever you run the application. It's quite handy for those of us who love the keychain, but hate the fact that every time we restart or boot-up, we must unlock it first before it can be used.
Version 1.2 adds the deluxe "how to" instructions to assist with getting everything set up. Added a new feature to "always prompt" on startup. Yes, this sort of defeats the purpose of having it auto-unlock, but it is useful for certain software configurations, where the keychain screws up by trying to open certain servers before other software is setup correctly on startup. Most people will not want this feature, and they should just leave it off.
Cost: It's Free!
Cynthia Nichols of the Cupertino Unified School District has prepared this excellent graphical tutorial about how to set up Keychain Autounlock for use in your system.
Detailed instructions on using KeyChain AutoUnlock (these notes are also
in the ReadMe included in the download):
(0) IF you have a password to a server that does not have any characters in it (you just type your name and hit "Connect" in the login dialog), then THIS WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU -- you need to have a non-empty server password to use the keychain (I think this is a Keychain Access bug, personally). It is OK to have an empty password for your keychain.
(0) If you have EVER checked the "Mount At Startup" checkbox in the Chooser to cause a server to automatically mount, you MUST go to the Chooser and turn that same checkbox OFF. If you do not do this, KA will NOT work for you.
(1) Open the Keychain Access Control Panel
(2) Create a new keychain.
(3) Unlock the keychain, if it is not.
(4) Via the chooser, mount the servers you wish to auto-mount. DO NOT use the "Add to Keychain" checkbox -- there is some funniness with this checkbox, and I'm not sure it always works. Since you don't want to do this more than once, don't check this box (we'll add them later).
(5) Drag each one into your keychain window, entering the passwords as they are requested.
(6) In the Edit menu, choose the "
(7) In the Preferences dialog, click the "Allow Access Without Warning" checkbox. A dialog will appear "Are you sure you want to turn off warnings when your keychain is accessed?". Click YES. Then click "Save" to close the preferences dialog.
(8) Close the Keychain Access dialog.
(9) Unmount all servers. DO NOT restart yet.
(9) Perform a test: Go to the "Recent Servers" menu under the Apple menu, and select a server you just had mounted. (a) Did it mount without asking you? If so, proceed to step (10). (b) if the server prompted you for a password, either you did not perform the steps above in the right order, your keychain is locked, or you have an empty server password. Please try the steps again, unlock the keychain and try this step again, or get a non-empty password if necessary.
(10) Lock the Keychain (either via the control strip, or open the Control Panel and lock it).
(11) Launch the Keychain Autounlock application (make sure you have version 1.1.1). Enter your password... did you get an error message? If so, your password is not correct, or it could not be unlocked for some reason. Repeat earlier steps if you did not get a "The keychain information was saved..." dialog. (12) If you do not want to mount servers on startup, you are done. Continue to use your mac, and from now on on restart the keychain should be unlocked for you.
(12) If you do want to mount servers automatically on startup, open the System Folder, and create a folder named "Startup Servers" inside. Put aliases to any servers you wish to mount on startup in this folder. DO NOT PUT SERVER ALIASES IN THE STARTUP ITEMS FOLDER. This will NOT work... the Finder will attempt to open those server aliases BEFORE Keychain Autounlock has a chance to run, therefore defeating the purpose of using it (Also a bug in my opinion).
(13) Restart, and you should be ready to go -- all servers properly aliased in the "Startup Servers" folder should be automatically mounted.