--- title: "Keychain credential storage | Grafana documentation" description: "Keychain credential storage gcx stores token-shaped credentials in the operating system credential store. It uses Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, and Secret Service on Linux and BSD. The YAML file contains a reference to the stored credential." --- > For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt). # Keychain credential storage gcx stores token-shaped credentials in the operating system credential store. It uses Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, and Secret Service on Linux and BSD. The YAML file contains a reference to the stored credential. The reference is bound to these values: - The canonical configuration file path. - The owner type and owner name. - The credential field. - The normalized credential destination. A copied configuration file cannot use the stored credential. Authenticate the copied file separately. ## Plaintext fallback gcx keeps a new credential in a mode-`0600` configuration file only when you have set `GCX_KEYCHAIN=off`. gcx writes a warning when it does this. See [Disable the credential store](#disable-the-credential-store). gcx does not use plaintext fallback for these conditions: - An unavailable credential store. - A locked credential store. - A deletion of an existing credential. - A replacement of an existing credential, unless you have set `GCX_KEYCHAIN=off`. - A missing or rejected credential reference. - A value that is too large for the credential store. - An unknown credential store error. ## Disable the credential store Set `GCX_KEYCHAIN=off` when the credential store is permanently unavailable, such as on a headless box, a CI runner, or a session that can never unlock the keyring. gcx then keeps credentials in the mode-`0600` configuration file and does not use the credential store. shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```shell export GCX_KEYCHAIN=off ``` `off` is the only value that disables the credential store. gcx keeps using the store for every other value, so a typo cannot write credentials in plaintext without your intent. gcx warns once per command when it ignores a value: ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```none warn: GCX_KEYCHAIN="disabled" is not a recognized value and was ignored; the OS credential store is still in use. Set GCX_KEYCHAIN=off to disable it. ``` Set the variable in your shell profile or CI job environment to make it permanent for a machine. gcx does not move stored credentials back into the configuration file when you disable the credential store. It preserves their references and cannot read them. You have two choices for each one. Keep the reference. Unset `GCX_KEYCHAIN` and the credential works again. Replace the credential. Authenticate again, and gcx writes the new value in plaintext. This is not reversible: gcx cannot delete through a disabled store, so the credential you replaced stays in the OS credential store with nothing referencing it, and no gcx command can reach it again. gcx warns when this happens. Delete that entry yourself to finish the change, and treat this as required when you are replacing a leaked credential. gcx cannot remove a credential that is in the credential store while the credential store is disabled. `gcx config unset` on that field, and deleting the stack or Cloud entry that owns it, both fail. gcx does not drop the reference and leave the secret in the credential store, because that reports a deletion that did not happen. Unset `GCX_KEYCHAIN` and run the command again. When the credential store is permanently unavailable, unsetting the variable does not help, because gcx still cannot read the entry: edit the configuration file to remove the reference, then delete the entry through your OS credential store. This applies only to credentials that are in the credential store. A credential that is already plaintext in the configuration file has nothing to remove from the store, so `gcx config unset` and entry deletion both work as usual. ## `Keychain locked` This error means that macOS Keychain or a Linux or BSD Secret Service is available, but gcx cannot unlock it in the current session. gcx stops commands that need the credential. It does not use or write a plaintext credential. Configuration inspection and repair commands remain available. Windows Credential Manager lock failures are not in this error class. You can supply a credential with an environment variable when you cannot unlock the credential store. For example, you can use `GRAFANA_TOKEN`. ### Unlock macOS Keychain Unlock the login keychain in the same security session that runs gcx. An unlock in a different terminal or process tree might not apply to the gcx process. Run this command in the gcx session: shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```shell security unlock-keychain ``` The command asks for the keychain password. Do not use the `-p` option. This option exposes the password in the process arguments. Run the gcx command again after the unlock. If gcx still cannot use the keychain, run gcx from an unlocked desktop session. ### Unlock a GNOME keyring in a headless session A headless or SSH session might not have an agent that can answer the unlock prompt. First, read the lock state: shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```shell busctl --user get-property org.freedesktop.secrets \ /org/freedesktop/secrets/collection/login \ org.freedesktop.Secret.Collection Locked ``` `b true` means that the collection is locked. `gnome-keyring-daemon --unlock` reads the password from standard input. It does not show a prompt. The `--daemonize` option creates a child process, so a password that you type does not reach that process. A trailing newline also prevents the unlock. Use this procedure: shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```shell stty -echo; printf 'Keyring password: '; read -r PW; stty echo; echo printf '%s' "$PW" | gnome-keyring-daemon --replace --daemonize --unlock unset PW ``` Read the lock state again. `b false` means that the collection is unlocked. If the state does not change, a service manager might own the `org.freedesktop.secrets` name. Stop the service, and run the unlock procedure again: shell ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```shell systemctl --user stop gnome-keyring-daemon.service gnome-keyring-daemon.socket ``` ## A credential was `rejected before network use` This error means that gcx did not send the credential. The error can have one of these causes: - The keychain reference is missing or belongs to a different source. - The credential destination changed. - The keychain is locked. - An environment credential is paired with an automatically discovered repository destination. If the keychain is locked, gcx shows the `Keychain locked` error and the procedures on this page apply. For another cause, review the file and run the exact repair command from the error. You can use `gcx config edit user` or `gcx config edit --config ""` when the error gives that command. Then, re-authenticate, replace the field, or unset the field. An explicit configuration path does not make a missing, foreign, or destination-mismatched keychain reference valid.