Provided by: libpam0g-dev_1.5.3-5ubuntu5.1_amd64 
NAME
pam_start, pam_start_confdir - initialization of PAM transaction
SYNOPSIS
#include <security/pam_appl.h>
int pam_start(const char *service_name, const char *user, const struct pam_conv *pam_conversation,
pam_handle_t **pamh);
int pam_start_confdir(const char *service_name, const char *user,
const struct pam_conv *pam_conversation, const char *confdir, pam_handle_t **pamh);
DESCRIPTION
The pam_start function creates the PAM context and initiates the PAM transaction. It is the first of the
PAM functions that needs to be called by an application. The transaction state is contained entirely
within the structure identified by this handle, so it is possible to have multiple transactions in
parallel. But it is not possible to use the same handle for different transactions, a new one is needed
for every new context.
The service_name argument specifies the name of the service to apply and will be stored as PAM_SERVICE
item in the new context. The policy for the service will be read from the file /etc/pam.d/service_name
or, if that file does not exist, from /etc/pam.conf.
The user argument can specify the name of the target user and will be stored as PAM_USER item. If the
argument is NULL, the module has to ask for this item if necessary.
The pam_conversation argument points to a struct pam_conv describing the conversation function to use. An
application must provide this for direct communication between a loaded module and the application.
Following a successful return (PAM_SUCCESS) the contents of pamh is a handle that contains the PAM
context for successive calls to the PAM functions. In an error case is the content of pamh undefined.
The pam_handle_t is a blind structure and the application should not attempt to probe it directly for
information. Instead the PAM library provides the functions pam_set_item(3) and pam_get_item(3). The PAM
handle cannot be used for multiple authentications at the same time as long as pam_end was not called on
it before.
The pam_start_confdir function behaves like the pam_start function but it also allows setting confdir
argument with a path to a directory to override the default (/etc/pam.d) path for service policy files.
If the confdir is NULL, the function works exactly the same as pam_start.
RETURN VALUES
PAM_ABORT
General failure.
PAM_BUF_ERR
Memory buffer error.
PAM_SUCCESS
Transaction was successfully started.
PAM_SYSTEM_ERR
System error, for example a NULL pointer was submitted instead of a pointer to data.
SEE ALSO
pam_get_data(3), pam_set_data(3), pam_end(3), pam_strerror(3)