Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security process in which a user provides two different authentication factors, other than a password to verify their identity. Implementing 2FA can enhance the security of your systems and applications. In this tutorial, we will see how to implement 2FA using the 2fa command line tool.

Step 1: Update the Package List

The first step is to update the package list on your Linux machine. To do this, open a terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get update

Step 2: Install GCC Go Compiler

The next step is to install the GCC Go compiler. The GCC Go compiler is required to build and install the 2FA library. To install it, run the following command:

sudo apt install gccgo-go

Step 3: Set GOPATH Environment Variable

The GOPATH environment variable defines the location of your Go workspace. It is used by Go to find the packages and libraries that you need to build your applications. To set the GOPATH environment variable, run the following command:

export GOPATH=$HOME/go

Step 4: Add Go Binary Directory to PATH

The PATH environment variable specifies the directories where the system should look for executable files. To add the Go binary directory to the PATH, run the following command:

export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin

Step 5: Clone the 2FA Repository

The next step is to clone the 2FA repository developed by Russ Cox. To clone the repository, run the following command:

git clone https://github.com/rsc/2fa.git

Step 6: Change Directory to 2FA

Change the current directory to the 2FA repository using the following command:

cd 2fa

Step 7: Install the 2FA Library

The final step is to install the 2FA library. To install the library, run the following command:

go install -mod=readonly

The -mod=readonly flag ensures that the installed module cannot be modified.

Step 8: Create a Symbolic Link to the 2FA Binary

The 2FA binary is now installed in the Go binary directory specified by the GOPATH environment variable. You can only run the binary from that directory. To make it easier to access the binary from anywhere, we can create a symbolic link to it in the local bin directory. To create the symbolic link, run the following command:

First, create a local bin directory if there isn't exist:-

mkdir -p $HOME/.local/bin

The -p flag tells the mkdir command to create the specified directory if it doesn't exist.

ln -s $HOME/go/bin/2fa $HOME/.local/bin

Now the 2fa configuration is all done and you can access the command.

eg:- 2fa -add facebook