16.8. Additional Resources

The following resources further explain methods to use and configure PAM. In addition to these resources, read the PAM configuration files on the system to better understand how they are structured.

16.8.1. Installed Documentation

  • PAM related man pages — There are a number of man pages for the various applications and configuration files involved with PAM. The following is a list of some of the more important man pages.
    Configuration Files
    • man pam — Good introductory information on PAM, including the structure and purpose of the PAM configuration files. Note that although this man page talks about the /etc/pam.conf file, the actual configuration files for PAM under Red Hat Enterprise Linux are in the /etc/pam.d/ directory.
    • man pam_console — Describes the purpose of the pam_console.so module. It also describes the appropriate syntax for an entry within a PAM configuration file.
    • man console.apps — Describes the format and options available within /etc/security/console.apps the configuration file which defines which applications are accessible by the console user assigned by PAM.
    • man console.perms — Describes the format and options available within /etc/security/console.perms, the configuration file for the console user permissions assigned by PAM.
    • man pam_timestamp — Describes the pam_timestamp.so module.
  • /usr/share/doc/pam-<version-number> — Contains a System Administrators' Guide, a Module Writers' Manual, and the Application Developers' Manual, as well as a copy of the PAM standard, DCE-RFC 86.0 (replace <version-number> with the version number of PAM).
  • /usr/share/doc/pam-<version-number>/txts/README.pam_timestamp — Contains information about the pam_timestamp.so PAM module (replace <version-number> with the version number of PAM).