'\" te
.\"  Copyright (c) 1998, Sun Microsystems, Inc.   All Rights Reserved
.TH pam_open_session 3PAM "13 Oct 1998" "SunOS 5.11" "PAM Library Functions"
.SH NAME
pam_open_session, pam_close_session \- perform PAM session creation and termination operations
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
\fBcc\fR [ \fIflag\fR ... ] \fIfile\fR ... \fB-lpam\fR [ \fIlibrary\fR ... ]
#include <security/pam_appl.h>

\fBint\fR \fBpam_open_session\fR(\fBpam_handle_t *\fR\fIpamh\fR, \fBint\fR \fIflags\fR);
.fi

.LP
.nf
\fBint\fR \fBpam_close_session\fR(\fBpam_handle_t *\fR\fIpamh\fR, \fBint\fR \fIflags\fR);
.fi

.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
.LP
The \fBpam_open_session()\fR function is called after a user has been successfully authenticated. See  \fBpam_authenticate\fR(3PAM) and \fBpam_acct_mgmt\fR(3PAM). It is used to notify the session modules that a new session  has been initiated.  All programs that use the  \fBpam\fR(3PAM) library should invoke \fBpam_open_session()\fR when beginning a new session. Upon termination of this activity, \fBpam_close_session()\fR should be invoked to inform \fBpam\fR(3PAM) that the session has terminated.
.sp
.LP
The \fIpamh\fR argument is an authentication handle obtained by a prior call to \fBpam_start()\fR. The following flag may be set in the \fIflags\fR field for \fBpam_open_session()\fR and \fBpam_close_session()\fR:
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fBPAM_SILENT\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 14n
.rt  
The session service should not generate any messages.
.RE

.SH RETURN VALUES
.sp
.LP
Upon successful completion,  \fBPAM_SUCCESS\fR is returned.  In addition to the return values defined in \fBpam\fR(3PAM), the following value may be returned on error:
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fBPAM_SESSION_ERR\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 19n
.rt  
Cannot make or remove an entry for the specified session.
.RE

.SH ATTRIBUTES
.sp
.LP
See \fBattributes\fR(5) for description of the following attributes:
.sp

.sp
.TS
tab() box;
cw(2.75i) |cw(2.75i) 
lw(2.75i) |lw(2.75i) 
.
ATTRIBUTE TYPEATTRIBUTE VALUE
_
Interface StabilityCommitted
_
MT-LevelMT-Safe with exceptions
.TE

.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
.LP
\fBgetutxent\fR(3C), \fBpam\fR(3PAM), \fBpam_acct_mgmt\fR(3PAM), \fBpam_authenticate\fR(3PAM), \fBpam_start\fR(3PAM), \fBattributes\fR(5)
.SH NOTES
.sp
.LP
In many instances, the \fBpam_open_session()\fR and \fBpam_close_session()\fR calls may be made by different processes. For example, in UNIX the \fBlogin\fR process opens a session, while the \fBinit\fR process closes the session.  In this case, \fBUTMP/WTMP\fR entries may be used to link the call to \fBpam_close_session()\fR with an earlier call to \fBpam_open_session()\fR. This is possible because \fBUTMP/WTMP\fR entries are uniquely identified by a combination of attributes, including the user login name and device name, which are accessible through the  \fBPAM\fR handle, \fIpamh\fR. The call to \fBpam_open_session()\fR should precede  \fBUTMP/WTMP\fR entry management, and the call to \fBpam_close_session()\fR should follow  \fBUTMP/WTMP\fR exit management.
.sp
.LP
The interfaces in  \fBlibpam\fR are MT-Safe only if each thread within the multithreaded application uses its own  \fBPAM\fR handle.