console.apps(5) System Administrator's Manual console.apps(5)NAME
console.apps - specify console-accessible privileged applications
DESCRIPTION
The /etc/security/console.apps/ directory should contain one file per application that wishes to allow access to console users. The file-
name should be the same as the servicename, and the contents are irrelevant; the file may be a zero-length file. The application that the
file is used by is free to specify the contents in any way that is useful for it.
SEE ALSO pam_console(8)console.perms(5)AUTHOR
Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com>
Red Hat Software 1999/2/4 console.apps(5)
Check Out this Related Man Page
pam_console(8) System Administrator's Manual pam_console(8)NAME
pam_console - determine user owning the system console
SYNOPSIS
session optional pam_console.so
auth required pam_console.so
DESCRIPTION
pam_console.so is designed to give users at the physical console (virtual terminals and local xdm-managed X sessions by default, but that
is configurable) capabilities that they would not otherwise have, and to take those capabilities away when the are no longer logged in at
the console. It provides two main kinds of capabilities: file permissions and authentication.
When a user logs in at the console and no other user is currently logged in at the console, pam_console.so will run handler programs speci-
fied in the file /etc/security/console.handlers such as pam_console_apply which changes permissions and ownership of files as described in
the file /etc/security/console.perms. That user may then log in on other terminals that are considered part of the console, and as long as
the user is still logged in at any one of those terminals, that user will own those devices. When the user logs out of the last terminal,
the console may be taken by the next user to log in. Other users who have logged in at the console during the time that the first user was
logged in will not be given ownership of the devices unless they log in on one of the terminals; having done so on any one terminal, the
next user will own those devices until he or she has logged out of every terminal that is part of the physical console. Then the race can
start for the next user. In practice, this is not a problem; the physical console is not generally in use by many people at the same time,
and pam_console.so just tries to do the right thing in weird cases.
When an application attempts to authenticate the user and this user is already logged in at the console, pam_console.so checks whether
there is a file in /etc/security/console.apps/ directory with the same name as the application servicename, and if such a file exists,
authentication succeeds. This way pam_console may be utilized to run some system applications (reboots, config tools) without root pass-
word, or to enter user password on the first system login only.
ARGUMENTS
debug turns on debugging
allow_nonroot_tty
gain console locks and change permissions even if the TTY's owner is not root.
handlersfile=filename
tells pam_console.so to get the list of the handlers from a different file than /etc/security/console.handlers
EXAMPLE
/etc/pam.d/some-system-tool:
auth sufficient pam_rootok.so
auth required pam_console.so
/etc/pam.d/some-login-service:
auth sufficient pam_console.so
auth required pam_unix.so
session required pam_unix.so
session optional pam_console.so
FILES
/var/run/console/
/var/run/console/console.lock
/etc/security/console.apps
/etc/security/console.handlers
SECURITY NOTES
When pam_console "auth" is used for login services which provide possibility of remote login, it is necessary to make sure the application
correctly sets PAM_RHOST variable, or to deny remote logins completely. Currently, /bin/login (invoked from telnetd) and gdm is OK, others
may be not.
SEE ALSO console.perms(5)console.apps(5)console.handlers(5)pam_console_apply(8)
/usr/share/doc/pam*/html/index.html
BUGS
Let's hope not, but if you find any, please report them via the "Bug Track" link at http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/
AUTHORS
Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com>
Support of console.handlers and other improvements by Tomas Mraz <tmraz@redhat.com>
Red Hat 2005/10/4 pam_console(8)