Linux-PAM-0.77

Introduction to Linux-PAM

The Linux-PAM package contains Pluggable Authentication Modules. This is useful to enable the local system administrator to choose how applications authenticate users.

Package information

Linux-PAM dependencies

Optional

cracklib-2.7

Installation of Linux-PAM

Install Linux-PAM by running the following commands:

patch -Np1 -i ../Linux-PAM-0.77-linkage-3.patch &&
autoconf &&
./configure --enable-static-libpam --with-mailspool=/var/mail \
    --enable-read-both-confs --sysconfdir=/etc &&
make &&
make install &&
mv /lib/libpam.a /lib/libpam_misc.a /lib/libpamc.a /usr/lib &&
ln -sf ../../lib/libpam.so.0.77 /usr/lib/libpam.so &&
ln -sf ../../lib/libpam_misc.so.0.77 /usr/lib/libpam_misc.so &&
ln -sf ../../lib/libpamc.so.0.77 /usr/lib/libpamc.so

Command explanations

autoconf: This is necessary as in the patch, we change where PAM looks for the cracklib libs. This requires that the configure script be recreated.

--enable-static-libpam: This switch builds static PAM libraries as well as the dynamic libraries.

--with-mailspool=/var/mail: This switch makes the mailspool directory FHS compliant.

--enable-read-both-confs: This switch lets the local administrator choose which configuration file setup to use.

mv /lib/libpam.a /lib/libpam_misc.a /lib/libpamc.a /usr/lib: This command moves the static libraries to /usr/lib to comply with FHS.

Configuring Linux-PAM

Config files

/etc/pam.d or /etc/pam.conf

Configuration Information

Configuration information is placed in /etc/pam.d or /etc/pam.conf depending on the application that is using PAM. Below are example files of each type:

# Begin /etc/pam.d/other

auth            required        pam_unix.so     nullok
account         required        pam_unix.so
session         required        pam_unix.so
password        required        pam_unix.so     nullok

# End /etc/pam.d/other

# Begin /etc/pam.conf

other           auth            required        pam_unix.so     nullok
other           account         required        pam_unix.so
other           session         required        pam_unix.so
other           password        required        pam_unix.so     nullok

# End /etc/pam.conf

The PAM man page (man pam) provides a good starting point for descriptions of fields and allowable entries. The Linux-PAM guide for system administrators is recommended for further reading.

Refer to http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/modules.html for a list of various modules available.

Contents

The Linux-PAM package contains unix-chkpwd and libpam libraries.

Description

unix-chkpwd

No description available.

libpam libraries

libpam libraries provide the interfaces between applications and the modules included with PAM.