pam_authenticate - authenticate a user


SYNOPSIS

       #include <security/pam_appl.h>

       int pam_authenticate(pam_handle_t *pamh, int  flags);


DESCRIPTION

       pam_authenticate

       Use  this  function to authenticate an applicant user.  It
       is linked dynamically to  the  authentication  modules  by
       Linux-PAM.  It is the task of these module to perform such
       an authentication.  The specific nature of the authentica­
       tion is not the concern of the application.

       Following successful completion, the name of the authenti­
       cated user will be present in the Linux-PAM item PAM_USER.
       This item may be recovered with a call to pam_get_item(3).

       The application developer should note that the modules may
       request that the user enter their username via the conver­
       sation mechanism (see pam_start(3)).  Should this  be  the
       case,   the   user-prompt   string  can  be  set  via  the
       PAM_USER_PROMPT item (see pam_set_item(3)).


RETURN VALUE

       On success PAM_SUCCESS is  returned.   All  other  returns
       should  be  considered authentication failures and will be
       delayed  by  an  amount  specified  with  prior  calls  to
       pam_fail_delay(3).   Specific failures that demand special
       attention are the following:

       PAM_ABORT
              the application should exit immediately. Of course,
              pam_end(3) should be called first.

       PAM_MAXTRIES
              the application has tried too many times to authen­
              ticate  the  user,  authentication  should  not  be
              attempted again.


ERRORS

       May be translated to text with pam_strerror(3).

       DCE-RFC 86.0, October 1995.


BUGS

       none known.


SEE ALSO

       pam_start(3),    pam_get_item(3)   pam_fail_delay(3)   and
       pam_strerror(3).

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


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