Plucky 1.11+ supports a feature known as unadmin. This feature allows an administrator of a Windows, macOS, or Linux machine to abdicate their administrative privileges according to a schedule or indefinitely with a waiting period before it will be re-enabled.

Important note

The user must log out of Windows, macOS, or Linux and then log back in to fully drop or gain administrative privilege.

The unadmin feature is risky. Use with caution, and if you want to be safe, never uninstall Plucky while it is enabled. It is provided for those who think the risk is worth the reward of not having administrative powers.

Windows BitLocker and reboot loop

If a Windows computer is fully encrypted with Windows BitLocker, the unadmin feature is used on the only Administrator on the machine, and the user accounts on the computer are not “local accounts” (traditional), but “Microsoft accounts” (ewe!), then using the unadmin feature may lead to a reboot loop. Such a computer may be rescued by booting into safe mode and removing the unadmin feature.

This problem is rooted in the fact that BitLocker requires an Administrator account to unlock the device, and unadmin removes the Administrator part.

So, if you use a Microsoft account, you’ll have to choose between unadmin and BitLocker . Choose wisely.

Examples

To drop my administrative powers from the Windows, macOS, or Linux user account named peter:

pluck + unadmin peter

To undo the above (note that delay must first be endured before any effect):

pluck - unadmin peter

To expedite the change:

pluck expedite

To prevent expedite from working (not recommended unless truly needed):

pluck + noexpedite

To drop my administrative powers all hours except for Saturdays from 10:00 to 11:00.

pluck + when UMTWRF0-24.A0-10,11-24 unadmin peter

Unfiltered

If you want to use only the unadmin feature of Plucky, and none of Plucky’s filtering, you can do so by:

  1. Installing Plucky.

  2. Clearing Plucky’s factory defaults by opening a console and typing:

    pluck clear

  3. Setting a Plucky delay of 24 hours, or some other time period, if you want to prevent Plucky from being uninstalled at a whim by typing:

    pluck delay 24h

  4. Using pluck unadmin at your leisure as shown in the examples above.

Abmindicate

The abmindicate tool has been retired because Plucky’s unadmin feature is more flexible, and because abmindicate contained a hard-to-reproduce bug that was never fixed.

Last updated: 2024-07-03