fprintd-list

List enrolled fingerprints for a specific user

$ fprintd-list [username]

$ fprintd-list [username1 username2 ...]

$ fprintd-list

fprintd-list

fprintd-list is a command-line utility used to interact with the fprintd (Fingerprint Daemon) service. Its primary function is to display a list of all currently enrolled fingerprints on the system. It queries the fprintd daemon, which manages fingerprint reader devices and biometric data.

The output typically includes the user associated with the fingerprint and a unique identifier for the enrolled print. This command is useful for system administrators or users to verify which fingerprints are registered and to which accounts, especially when managing multiple users or ensuring that only authorized biometric data is stored. It doesn't modify data; it only provides an overview of the existing fingerprint enrollments.

Caveats and Limitations:
fprintd-list requires the fprintd service to be running.
To list fingerprints for all users, you often need root privileges (e.g., using sudo). Otherwise, it might only show prints for the current user.
The output identifiers (e.g., user@0, user@1) are internal to fprintd and may not directly map to a specific finger without prior knowledge.

Depending on your system's configuration and the specific version of fprintd, you might need sudo privileges to list fingerprints for all users. Without sudo, the command may only display enrollments associated with your current user account, or it might fail if permissions are too restrictive.

The output typically shows the user and a unique identifier for each enrolled fingerprint, such as username@0 or username@1. The number following the '@' symbol represents a unique identifier for a specific enrollment, which can correspond to different fingers or multiple enrollments of the same finger for that user.

fprintd is part of the libfprint project, which aims to provide a standardized D-Bus interface for fingerprint readers on Linux. fprintd-list is one of the client utilities provided to interact with this daemon. It emerged as part of the broader effort to simplify fingerprint reader integration and management on Linux desktop environments, offering a consistent way to handle biometric authentication.

fprintd(8), fprintd-enroll(1), fprintd-delete(1), pam_fprintd(8)