pam_start(3)

NAME
     pam_start, pam_end - activating PAM


SYNOPSIS
     #include <security/pam_appl.h>

     int pam_start(const char *service, const char *user, const struct
     pam_conv  *conv, pam_handle_t  **pamh_p);

     int pam_end(pam_handle_t *pamh, int pam_status);



DESCRIPTION
     pam_start
          Initialize the PAM library.  Identifying the application with a
          particular service name.  The username can take the value NULL, if
          not known at the time the interface is initialized.  The
          conversation structure is passed to the library via the conv
          argument.  (For a complete description of this and other structures
          the reader is directed to the more verbose PAM application
          developers' guide).  Upon successful initialization, an opaque
          pointer-handle for future access to the library is returned through
          the contents of the pamh_p pointer.


     pam_end
          Terminate the PAM library.  The service application associated with
          the pamh handle, is terminated.  The argument, pam_status, passes
          the value most recently returned to the application from the
          library; it indicates the manner in which the library should be
          shutdown.  Besides carrying a return value, this argument may be
          logically OR'd with PAM_DATA_SILENT to indicate that the module
          should not treat the call too seriously. It is generally used to
          indicate that the current closing of the library is in a fork(2)ed
          process, and that the parent will take care of cleaning up things
          that exist outside of the current process space (files etc.).


RETURN VALUE
     pam_start

     pam_end
          On success, PAM_SUCCESS is returned


ERRORS
     May be translated to text with pam_strerror(3).
CONFORMING TO
     DCE-RFC 86.0, October 1995.

     Note, the PAM_DATA_SILENT flag is pending acceptance with the DCE (as of
     1996/12/4).


BUGS
     None known.


SEE ALSO
     fork(2), pam_authenticate(3), pam_acct_mgmt(3), pam_open_session(3), and
     pam_chauthtok(3).

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