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I have an encrypted, password-protected sparsebundle that I occasionally mount and unmount from the terminal. I want the system to ask for the password every time I mount it, but for some reason it keeps remembering.

This is how I mount it: hdiutil attach ~/path/to/my/bundle -mountpoint ~/my/mountpoint

These are some of the ways I've tried to unmount it:

hdiutil detach -force ~/path/to/my/bundle
hdiutil detach -force /Users/me/path/to/my/bundle
hdiutil eject -force ~/path/to/my/bundle
diskutil eject ~/path/to/my/bundle
diskutil unmount force ~/path/to/my/bundle

(I've read here that hdiutil unmount is not sufficient to make the system forget the password.)

However, whatever I try, the system "helpfully" remembers the password each time.

Only when I use the eject button in Finder, does the system forget the password.

Also, there is no entry in my keychain that suggest the password has been cached. (At least, I can't find it. There are none with kind disk image password.)

I've even created a new sparsebundle, with a new name and a different password, but the problem persists.

What am I missing here? How can I make sure the sytem always asks for the password, each time I mount the sparsebundle?

jqno
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  • In this [post](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5055489) the following procedure was suggested: "I had to first use `unmount force` option, then open the volume again in the script, then eject it. And that worked." – harrymc Nov 29 '18 at 10:04
  • Tried it, but sadly doesn't work for me. – jqno Nov 29 '18 at 13:26
  • Using detach, then closing the terminal session. Will opening a new terminal session still allow you to mount without password? – Ole Aldric Nov 29 '18 at 15:46
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    Another case of Apple saving you from yourself. Ease of use is more important than security. – HackSlash Nov 29 '18 at 21:56
  • @Elmo Nope. Only the eject button in finder seems to work reliably so far. And rebooting the system. – jqno Nov 30 '18 at 10:50
  • What version are you running? On El Capitan, "hdiutil eject ~/my/mountpoint" (note not "~/path/to/my/bundle" as in the question) results on password prompt on all subsequent "hdiutil attach ~/Documents/Test.sparsebundle -mountpoint ~/my/mountpoint" – lx07 Dec 04 '18 at 15:50
  • @lx07 I'm running Mojave. – jqno Dec 05 '18 at 08:46
  • @lx07 I just gave it another shot with the exact same commands that you mention, but still no dice... – jqno Dec 05 '18 at 08:49

1 Answers1

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It feels kind of sad, but in the end I managed to find a way to do it using AppleScript:

osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to eject "<name>"'

The <name> should match the name in Finder's sidebar.

jqno
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