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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