pam_open_session(3) [redhat man page]

PAM_OPEN_SESSION(3)					     App. Programmers' Manual					       PAM_OPEN_SESSION(3)

NAME

       pam_open/close_session - PAM session management

SYNOPSIS

       #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

       PAM provides management-hooks for the initialization and termination of a session.

       pam_open_session
	      Use  this function to signal that an authenticated user session has begun. It should be called only after the user is properly iden-
	      tified and (where necessary) has been granted their credentials with pam_authenticate(3) and pam_setcred(3) respectively.

	      Some types of functions associated with session initialization are logging for the purposes of system-audit and mounting directories
	      (the  user's  home  directory  for  example).  These  should not concern the application. It should be noted that the effective uid,
	      geteuid(2), of the application should be of sufficient privilege to perform such tasks.

       pam_close_session
	      Use this function to signal that a user session has terminated. In general this function may not need to	be  located  in  the  same
	      application as the initialization function, pam_open_session.

	      Typically,  this	function will undo the actions of pam_open_session.  That is, log audit information concerning the end of the user
	      session or unmount the user's home directory. Apart from having sufficient privilege the details of the session  termination  should
	      not  concern  the  calling application. It is good programming practice, however, to cease acting on behalf of the user on returning
	      from this call.

RETURN VALUE

       A successful return from the session management functions will be indicated with PAM_SUCCESS.

       The specific error indicating a failure to open or close a session is PAM_SESSION_ERR.  In general other return	values	may  be  returned.
       They should be treated as indicating failure.

ERRORS

       May be translated to text with pam_strerror(3).

CONFORMING TO

       OSF-RFC 86.0, October 1995.

BUGS

       none known.

SEE ALSO

       pam_start(3), pam_authenticate(3), pam_setcred(3), pam_get_item(3), pam_strerror(3) and pam(3).

       Also, see the three Linux-PAM Guides, for System administrators, module developers, and application developers.

Linux-PAM 0.55							    1997 Jan 4						       PAM_OPEN_SESSION(3)

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 5.10							    13 Oct 1998 					    pam_open_session(3PAM)