NAME

       pam_setcred - establish / delete user credentials

SYNOPSIS

       #include <security/pam_appl.h>

       int pam_setcred(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

DESCRIPTION

       The pam_setcred function is used to establish, maintain and delete the credentials of a
       user. It should be called to set the credentials after a user has been authenticated and
       before a session is opened for the user (with pam_open_session(3)). The credentials should
       be deleted after the session has been closed (with pam_close_session(3)).

       A credential is something that the user possesses. It is some property, such as a Kerberos
       ticket, or a supplementary group membership that make up the uniqueness of a given user.
       On a Linux system the user's UID and GID's are credentials too. However, it has been
       decided that these properties (along with the default supplementary groups of which the
       user is a member) are credentials that should be set directly by the application and not
       by PAM. Such credentials should be established, by the application, prior to a call to
       this function. For example, initgroups(2) (or equivalent) should have been performed.

       Valid flags, any one of which, may be logically OR'd with PAM_SILENT, are:

       PAM_ESTABLISH_CRED
           Initialize the credentials for the user.

       PAM_DELETE_CRED
           Delete the user's credentials.

       PAM_REINITIALIZE_CRED
           Fully reinitialize the user's credentials.

       PAM_REFRESH_CRED
           Extend the lifetime of the existing credentials.

RETURN VALUES

       PAM_BUF_ERR
           Memory buffer error.

       PAM_CRED_ERR
           Failed to set user credentials.

       PAM_CRED_EXPIRED
           User credentials are expired.

       PAM_CRED_UNAVAIL
           Failed to retrieve user credentials.

       PAM_SUCCESS
           Data was successful stored.

       PAM_SYSTEM_ERR
           A NULL pointer was submitted as PAM handle, the function was called by a module or
           another system error occurred.

       PAM_USER_UNKNOWN
           User is not known to an authentication module.

SEE ALSO

       pam_authenticate(3), pam_open_session(3), pam_close_session(3), pam_strerror(3)