xref: /freebsd/contrib/openpam/doc/man/pam.3 (revision b6de9e91bd2c47efaeec72a08642f8fd99cc7b20)
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34.\" $P4$
35.\"
36.Dd June 16, 2005
37.Dt PAM 3
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm pam_acct_mgmt ,
41.Nm pam_authenticate ,
42.Nm pam_chauthtok ,
43.Nm pam_close_session ,
44.Nm pam_end ,
45.Nm pam_get_data ,
46.Nm pam_get_item ,
47.Nm pam_get_user ,
48.Nm pam_getenv ,
49.Nm pam_getenvlist ,
50.Nm pam_open_session ,
51.Nm pam_putenv ,
52.Nm pam_set_data ,
53.Nm pam_set_item ,
54.Nm pam_setcred ,
55.Nm pam_start ,
56.Nm pam_strerror
57.Nd Pluggable Authentication Modules Library
58.Sh LIBRARY
59.Lb libpam
60.Sh SYNOPSIS
61.In security/pam_appl.h
62.Ft "int"
63.Fn pam_acct_mgmt "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int flags"
64.Ft "int"
65.Fn pam_authenticate "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int flags"
66.Ft "int"
67.Fn pam_chauthtok "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int flags"
68.Ft "int"
69.Fn pam_close_session "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int flags"
70.Ft "int"
71.Fn pam_end "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int status"
72.Ft "int"
73.Fn pam_get_data "pam_handle_t *pamh" "const char *module_data_name" "void **data"
74.Ft "int"
75.Fn pam_get_item "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int item_type" "const void **item"
76.Ft "int"
77.Fn pam_get_user "pam_handle_t *pamh" "const char **user" "const char *prompt"
78.Ft "const char *"
79.Fn pam_getenv "pam_handle_t *pamh" "const char *name"
80.Ft "char **"
81.Fn pam_getenvlist "pam_handle_t *pamh"
82.Ft "int"
83.Fn pam_open_session "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int flags"
84.Ft "int"
85.Fn pam_putenv "pam_handle_t *pamh" "const char *namevalue"
86.Ft "int"
87.Fn 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)"
88.Ft "int"
89.Fn pam_set_item "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int item_type" "const void *item"
90.Ft "int"
91.Fn pam_setcred "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int flags"
92.Ft "int"
93.Fn pam_start "const char *service" "const char *user" "const struct pam_conv *pam_conv" "pam_handle_t **pamh"
94.Ft "const char *"
95.Fn pam_strerror "pam_handle_t *pamh" "int error_number"
96.\"
97.\" $P4: //depot/projects/openpam/doc/man/pam.man#4 $
98.\"
99.Sh DESCRIPTION
100The Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) library abstracts a number
101of common authentication-related operations and provides a framework
102for dynamically loaded modules that implement these operations in
103various ways.
104.Ss Terminology
105In PAM parlance, the application that uses PAM to authenticate a user
106is the server, and is identified for configuration purposes by a
107service name, which is often (but not necessarily) the program name.
108.Pp
109The user requesting authentication is called the applicant, while the
110user (usually, root) charged with verifying his identity and granting
111him the requested credentials is called the arbitrator.
112.Pp
113The sequence of operations the server goes through to authenticate a
114user and perform whatever task he requested is a PAM transaction; the
115context within which the server performs the requested task is called
116a session.
117.Pp
118The functionality embodied by PAM is divided into six primitives
119grouped into four facilities: authentication, account management,
120session management and password management.
121.Ss Conversation
122The PAM library expects the application to provide a conversation
123callback which it can use to communicate with the user.
124Some modules may use specialized conversation functions to communicate
125with special hardware such as cryptographic dongles or biometric
126devices.
127See
128.Xr pam_conv 3
129for details.
130.Ss Initialization and Cleanup
131The
132.Fn pam_start
133function initializes the PAM library and returns a handle which must
134be provided in all subsequent function calls.
135The transaction state is contained entirely within the structure
136identified by this handle, so it is possible to conduct multiple
137transactions in parallel.
138.Pp
139The
140.Fn pam_end
141function releases all resources associated with the specified context,
142and can be called at any time to terminate a PAM transaction.
143.Ss Storage
144The
145.Fn pam_set_item
146and
147.Fn pam_get_item
148functions set and retrieve a number of predefined items, including the
149service name, the names of the requesting and target users, the
150conversation function, and prompts.
151.Pp
152The
153.Fn pam_set_data
154and
155.Fn pam_get_data
156functions manage named chunks of free-form data, generally used by
157modules to store state from one invocation to another.
158.Ss Authentication
159There are two authentication primitives:
160.Fn pam_authenticate
161and
162.Fn pam_setcred .
163The former authenticates the user, while the latter manages his
164credentials.
165.Ss Account Management
166The
167.Fn pam_acct_mgmt
168function enforces policies such as password expiry, account expiry,
169time-of-day restrictions, and so forth.
170.Ss Session Management
171The
172.Fn pam_open_session
173and
174.Fn pam_close_session
175functions handle session setup and teardown.
176.Ss Password Management
177The
178.Fn pam_chauthtok
179function allows the server to change the user's password, either at
180the user's request or because the password has expired.
181.Ss Miscellaneous
182The
183.Fn pam_putenv ,
184.Fn pam_getenv
185and
186.Fn pam_getenvlist
187functions manage a private environment list in which modules can set
188environment variables they want the server to export during the
189session.
190.Pp
191The
192.Fn pam_strerror
193function returns a pointer to a string describing the specified PAM
194error code.
195.Sh RETURN VALUES
196The following return codes are defined by
197.In security/pam_constants.h :
198.Bl -tag -width 18n
199.It Bq Er PAM_ABORT
200General failure.
201.It Bq Er PAM_ACCT_EXPIRED
202User account has expired.
203.It Bq Er PAM_AUTHINFO_UNAVAIL
204Authentication information is unavailable.
205.It Bq Er PAM_AUTHTOK_DISABLE_AGING
206Authentication token aging disabled.
207.It Bq Er PAM_AUTHTOK_ERR
208Authentication token failure.
209.It Bq Er PAM_AUTHTOK_EXPIRED
210Password has expired.
211.It Bq Er PAM_AUTHTOK_LOCK_BUSY
212Authentication token lock busy.
213.It Bq Er PAM_AUTHTOK_RECOVERY_ERR
214Failed to recover old authentication token.
215.It Bq Er PAM_AUTH_ERR
216Authentication error.
217.It Bq Er PAM_BUF_ERR
218Memory buffer error.
219.It Bq Er PAM_CONV_ERR
220Conversation failure.
221.It Bq Er PAM_CRED_ERR
222Failed to set user credentials.
223.It Bq Er PAM_CRED_EXPIRED
224User credentials have expired.
225.It Bq Er PAM_CRED_INSUFFICIENT
226Insufficient credentials.
227.It Bq Er PAM_CRED_UNAVAIL
228Failed to retrieve user credentials.
229.It Bq Er PAM_DOMAIN_UNKNOWN
230Unknown authentication domain.
231.It Bq Er PAM_IGNORE
232Ignore this module.
233.It Bq Er PAM_MAXTRIES
234Maximum number of tries exceeded.
235.It Bq Er PAM_MODULE_UNKNOWN
236Unknown module type.
237.It Bq Er PAM_NEW_AUTHTOK_REQD
238New authentication token required.
239.It Bq Er PAM_NO_MODULE_DATA
240Module data not found.
241.It Bq Er PAM_OPEN_ERR
242Failed to load module.
243.It Bq Er PAM_PERM_DENIED
244Permission denied.
245.It Bq Er PAM_SERVICE_ERR
246Error in service module.
247.It Bq Er PAM_SESSION_ERR
248Session failure.
249.It Bq Er PAM_SUCCESS
250Success.
251.It Bq Er PAM_SYMBOL_ERR
252Invalid symbol.
253.It Bq Er PAM_SYSTEM_ERR
254System error.
255.It Bq Er PAM_TRY_AGAIN
256Try again.
257.It Bq Er PAM_USER_UNKNOWN
258Unknown user.
259.El
260.Sh SEE ALSO
261.Xr openpam 3 ,
262.Xr pam_acct_mgmt 3 ,
263.Xr pam_authenticate 3 ,
264.Xr pam_chauthtok 3 ,
265.Xr pam_close_session 3 ,
266.Xr pam_conv 3 ,
267.Xr pam_end 3 ,
268.Xr pam_get_data 3 ,
269.Xr pam_getenv 3 ,
270.Xr pam_getenvlist 3 ,
271.Xr pam_get_item 3 ,
272.Xr pam_get_user 3 ,
273.Xr pam_open_session 3 ,
274.Xr pam_putenv 3 ,
275.Xr pam_setcred 3 ,
276.Xr pam_set_data 3 ,
277.Xr pam_set_item 3 ,
278.Xr pam_start 3 ,
279.Xr pam_strerror 3
280.Sh STANDARDS
281.Rs
282.%T "X/Open Single Sign-On Service (XSSO) - Pluggable Authentication Modules"
283.%D "June 1997"
284.Re
285.Sh AUTHORS
286The OpenPAM library and this manual page were developed for the
287.Fx
288Project by ThinkSec AS and Network Associates Laboratories, the
289Security Research Division of Network Associates, Inc.\& under
290DARPA/SPAWAR contract N66001-01-C-8035
291.Pq Dq CBOSS ,
292as part of the DARPA CHATS research program.
293