# Sign in

_Peios / Using Peios / Sign in_

> Choose a browser, local console or SSH sign-in route, change your own password, and find help when access fails.

Choose the sign-in route available on your machine. If you have just installed
Peios, complete [first-boot setup](/peios/using-peios/disks-and-filesystems/first-boot-setup.md)
first. Manual and legacy installation routes can provision accounts differently;
[Creating accounts](/peios/using-peios/managing-local-principals/creating-accounts.md#where-the-first-account-comes-from)
explains those distinctions.

## Choose how to connect

- **Use the desktop in a browser:** [Open the desktop](/peios/using-peios/signing-in-from-a-browser/open-the-desktop.md).
  Check the machine's [certificate](/peios/using-peios/signing-in-from-a-browser/the-certificate.md)
  before entering credentials.
- **Use a local console:** [The login command](/peios/using-peios/signing-in/the-login-command.md)
  explains the prompt, live-medium autologon and multiple-console behavior.
  Switching consoles does not lock or log out the session you leave.
- **Use a remote terminal:** [Sign in over SSH](/peios/using-peios/signing-in/signing-in-over-ssh.md).
  Verify the host fingerprint and read the access precautions before changing
  the SSH service or credential policy.

## Manage your own account

Use [passwd](/peios/using-peios/signing-in/the-passwd-command.md) to change your own password.
For your SSH keys, follow [Changing your own keys](/peios/using-peios/managing-local-principals/lps-command.md#changing-your-own-keys).
To change the name shown beside your account name, follow [Changing your own display name](/peios/using-peios/managing-local-principals/lps-command.md#changing-your-own-display-name).
Changing another account's credentials is an administration task; start with
[Manage local accounts and groups](/peios/using-peios/managing-local-principals/overview.md).

A stored password and the account's credential policy are separate. Follow
[Creating accounts](/peios/using-peios/managing-local-principals/creating-accounts.md) when
changing whether a password or SSH key is required; setting a password alone
does not change a passwordless account's policy.

## If sign-in fails

Start with [Troubleshoot a problem](/peios/using-peios/operating-peios/troubleshoot-a-problem.md#sign-in-is-refused).
Keep a working administrator route available while investigating. Do not delete
the local principal store to try to restore access: it holds the machine's
identity, and a corrupt store is different from a missing one. See
[The local store](/peios/security-fundamentals/authentication/the-local-store.md#missing-versus-corrupt).

For the model behind the prompts, read [How authentication works](/peios/security-fundamentals/authentication/overview.md)
and [Logon sessions](/peios/security-fundamentals/logon-sessions/overview.md) in Security Fundamentals.

Related content:

- [Sign in from a browser](/peios/using-peios/signing-in-from-a-browser/open-the-desktop.md)
- [The login command](/peios/using-peios/signing-in/the-login-command.md)
- [The passwd command](/peios/using-peios/signing-in/the-passwd-command.md)
- [Signing in over SSH](/peios/using-peios/signing-in/signing-in-over-ssh.md)
- [Manage local accounts and groups](/peios/using-peios/managing-local-principals/overview.md)
- [How authentication works](/peios/security-fundamentals/authentication/overview.md)