opensolaris man page for pam_close_session

pam_open_session(3PAM)					       PAM Library Functions					    pam_open_session(3PAM)

NAME
       pam_open_session, pam_close_session - perform PAM session creation and termination operations

SYNOPSIS
       cc [ flag ... ] file ... -lpam [ library ... ]
       #include <security/pam_appl.h>

       int pam_open_session(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

       int pam_close_session(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

DESCRIPTION
       The   pam_open_session()   function  is	called	after  a  user	has  been  successfully  authenticated.  See   pam_authenticate(3PAM)  and
       pam_acct_mgmt(3PAM). It is used to notify the session modules that a new session  has been initiated.  All programs that use the  pam(3PAM)
       library	should	invoke	pam_open_session()  when beginning a new session. Upon termination of this activity, pam_close_session() should be
       invoked to inform pam(3PAM) that the session has terminated.

       The pamh argument is an authentication handle obtained by a prior call to pam_start(). The following flag may be set in the flags field for
       pam_open_session() and pam_close_session():

       PAM_SILENT    The session service should not generate any messages.

RETURN VALUES
       Upon  successful  completion,   PAM_SUCCESS is returned.  In addition to the return values defined in pam(3PAM), the following value may be
       returned on error:

       PAM_SESSION_ERR	  Cannot make or remove an entry for the specified session.

ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for description of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface Stability	     | Stable			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |MT-Level		     |MT-Safe with exceptions	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO
       getutxent(3C), pam(3PAM), pam_acct_mgmt(3PAM), pam_authenticate(3PAM), pam_start(3PAM), attributes(5)

NOTES
       In many instances, the pam_open_session() and pam_close_session() calls may be made by different processes. For example, in UNIX the  login
       process	opens  a  session,  while  the	init  process closes the session.  In this case, UTMP/WTMP entries may be used to link the call to
       pam_close_session() with an earlier call to pam_open_session(). This is possible because UTMP/WTMP entries are  uniquely  identified  by  a
       combination  of	attributes, including the user login name and device name, which are accessible through the  PAM handle, pamh. The call to
       pam_open_session() should precede  UTMP/WTMP entry management, and the call to pam_close_session() should follow   UTMP/WTMP  exit  manage-
       ment.

       The interfaces in  libpam are MT-Safe only if each thread within the multithreaded application uses its own  PAM handle.

SunOS 5.11							    13 Oct 1998 					    pam_open_session(3PAM)