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PAM(3)                                  BSD Library Functions Manual                                  PAM(3)

NAME
     pam_acct_mgmt, pam_authenticate, pam_chauthtok, pam_close_session, pam_end, pam_get_data, pam_get_item,
     pam_get_user, pam_getenv, pam_getenvlist, pam_open_session, pam_putenv, pam_set_data, pam_set_item,
     pam_setcred, pam_start, pam_strerror -- Pluggable Authentication Modules Library

LIBRARY
     Pluggable Authentication Module Library (libpam, -lpam)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <security/pam_appl.h>

     int
     pam_acct_mgmt(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

     int
     pam_authenticate(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

     int
     pam_chauthtok(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

     int
     pam_close_session(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

     int
     pam_end(pam_handle_t *pamh, int status);

     int
     pam_get_data(const pam_handle_t *pamh, const char *module_data_name, const void **data);

     int
     pam_get_item(const pam_handle_t *pamh, int item_type, const void **item);

     int
     pam_get_user(pam_handle_t *pamh, const char **user, const char *prompt);

     const char *
     pam_getenv(pam_handle_t *pamh, const char *name);

     char **
     pam_getenvlist(pam_handle_t *pamh);

     int
     pam_open_session(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

     int
     pam_putenv(pam_handle_t *pamh, const char *namevalue);

     int
     pam_set_data(pam_handle_t *pamh, const char *module_data_name, void *data,
         void (*cleanup)(pam_handle_t *pamh, void *data, int pam_end_status));

     int
     pam_set_item(pam_handle_t *pamh, int item_type, const void *item);

     int
     pam_setcred(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

     int
     pam_start(const char *service, const char *user, const struct pam_conv *pam_conv, pam_handle_t **pamh);

     const char *
     pam_strerror(const pam_handle_t *pamh, int error_number);

DESCRIPTION
     The Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) library abstracts a number of common authentication-related
     operations and provides a framework for dynamically loaded modules that implement these operations in
     various ways.

   Terminology
     In PAM parlance, the application that uses PAM to authenticate a user is the server, and is identified
     for configuration purposes by a service name, which is often (but not necessarily) the program name.

     The user requesting authentication is called the applicant, while the user (usually, root) charged with
     verifying his identity and granting him the requested credentials is called the arbitrator.

     The sequence of operations the server goes through to authenticate a user and perform whatever task he
     requested is a PAM transaction; the context within which the server performs the requested task is
     called a session.

     The functionality embodied by PAM is divided into six primitives grouped into four facilities: authen-tication, authentication,
     tication, account management, session management and password management.

   Conversation
     The PAM library expects the application to provide a conversation callback which it can use to communi-cate communicate
     cate with the user.  Some modules may use specialized conversation functions to communicate with spe-cial special
     cial hardware such as cryptographic dongles or biometric devices.  See pam_conv(3) for details.

   Initialization and Cleanup
     The pam_start() function initializes the PAM library and returns a handle which must be provided in all
     subsequent function calls.  The transaction state is contained entirely within the structure identified
     by this handle, so it is possible to conduct multiple transactions in parallel.

     The pam_end() function releases all resources associated with the specified context, and can be called
     at any time to terminate a PAM transaction.

   Storage
     The pam_set_item() and pam_get_item() functions set and retrieve a number of predefined items, includ-ing including
     ing the service name, the names of the requesting and target users, the conversation function, and
     prompts.

     The pam_set_data() and pam_get_data() functions manage named chunks of free-form data, generally used
     by modules to store state from one invocation to another.

   Authentication
     There are two authentication primitives: pam_authenticate() and pam_setcred().  The former authenti-cates authenticates
     cates the user, while the latter manages his credentials.

   Account Management
     The pam_acct_mgmt() function enforces policies such as password expiry, account expiry, time-of-day
     restrictions, and so forth.

   Session Management
     The pam_open_session() and pam_close_session() functions handle session setup and teardown.

   Password Management
     The pam_chauthtok() function allows the server to change the user's password, either at the user's
     request or because the password has expired.

   Miscellaneous
     The pam_putenv(), pam_getenv() and pam_getenvlist() functions manage a private environment list in
     which modules can set environment variables they want the server to export during the session.

     The pam_strerror() function returns a pointer to a string describing the specified PAM error code.

RETURN VALUES
     The following return codes are defined by <security/pam_constants.h>:

     [PAM_ABORT]         General failure.

     [PAM_ACCT_EXPIRED]  User account has expired.

     [PAM_AUTHINFO_UNAVAIL]
                         Authentication information is unavailable.

     [PAM_AUTHTOK_DISABLE_AGING]
                         Authentication token aging disabled.

     [PAM_AUTHTOK_ERR]   Authentication token failure.

     [PAM_AUTHTOK_EXPIRED]
                         Password has expired.

     [PAM_AUTHTOK_LOCK_BUSY]
                         Authentication token lock busy.

     [PAM_AUTHTOK_RECOVERY_ERR]
                         Failed to recover old authentication token.

     [PAM_AUTH_ERR]      Authentication error.

     [PAM_BUF_ERR]       Memory buffer error.

     [PAM_CONV_ERR]      Conversation failure.

     [PAM_CRED_ERR]      Failed to set user credentials.

     [PAM_CRED_EXPIRED]  User credentials have expired.

     [PAM_CRED_INSUFFICIENT]
                         Insufficient credentials.

     [PAM_CRED_UNAVAIL]  Failed to retrieve user credentials.

     [PAM_DOMAIN_UNKNOWN]
                         Unknown authentication domain.

     [PAM_IGNORE]        Ignore this module.

     [PAM_MAXTRIES]      Maximum number of tries exceeded.

     [PAM_MODULE_UNKNOWN]
                         Unknown module type.

     [PAM_NEW_AUTHTOK_REQD]
                         New authentication token required.

     [PAM_NO_MODULE_DATA]
                         Module data not found.

     [PAM_OPEN_ERR]      Failed to load module.

     [PAM_PERM_DENIED]   Permission denied.

     [PAM_SERVICE_ERR]   Error in service module.

     [PAM_SESSION_ERR]   Session failure.

     [PAM_SUCCESS]       Success.

     [PAM_SYMBOL_ERR]    Invalid symbol.

     [PAM_SYSTEM_ERR]    System error.

     [PAM_TRY_AGAIN]     Try again.

     [PAM_USER_UNKNOWN]  Unknown user.

SEE ALSO
     openpam(3), pam_acct_mgmt(3), pam_authenticate(3), pam_chauthtok(3), pam_close_session(3), pam_conv(3),
     pam_end(3), pam_get_data(3), pam_getenv(3), pam_getenvlist(3), pam_get_item(3), pam_get_user(3),
     pam_open_session(3), pam_putenv(3), pam_setcred(3), pam_set_data(3), pam_set_item(3), pam_start(3),
     pam_strerror(3)

STANDARDS
     X/Open Single Sign-On Service (XSSO) - Pluggable Authentication Modules, June 1997.

AUTHORS
     The OpenPAM library and this manual page were developed for the FreeBSD Project by ThinkSec AS and Net-work Network
     work Associates Laboratories, the Security Research Division of Network Associates, Inc. under
     DARPA/SPAWAR contract N66001-01-C-8035 (``CBOSS''), as part of the DARPA CHATS research program.

BSD                                           December 21, 2007                                          BSD