PAM_SYSLOG(3)

💖 PAM_SYSLOG(3) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the PAM_SYSLOG(3) page from the Linux-PAM Manual — yes this is a real manual section for a real logger function and you're gonna slay it ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

pam_syslog, pam_vsyslog — literally just sending messages to the system logger, no cap 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <syslog.h>

#include <security/pam_ext.h>

void pam_syslog(const pam_handle_t *pamh, int priority, const char *fmt,
                ...);

void pam_vsyslog(const pam_handle_t *pamh, int priority,
                 const char *fmt, va_list args);

look at those signatures. iconic. memorize the includes, they matter 💅

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so pam_syslog is the function that logs your messages using syslog(3), periodt. it's meant for internal use by Linux-PAM and PAM service modules — so like, it's for the backstage crew, not the main character (iykyk) 👑

the priority argument? you build it by ORing the facility and the level values together, exactly as documented in the syslog(3) manual page. that's the vibe check you have to pass, don't skip it 🫶

then there's pam_vsyslog, which does the same task as pam_syslog() — the only difference is it takes a set of arguments that you got from the stdarg(3) variable argument list macros. same energy, different wrapper 🎁

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• pam(8)

go read it, bestie, it's giving essential lore 📖

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💀 STANDARDS 💀

pam_syslog and pam_vsyslog are Linux-PAM extensions — so they're not POSIX, they're a Linux-PAM original 💅 don't expect them to show up everywhere, fr fr.

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okay that's the whole page!! you ate it up, honestly 🌈 and just so you know where all this came from: it's from Linux-PAM, dated 07/08/2026, and it lives under PAM_SYSLOG(3). mwah, go log something responsibly, love you bye 🍓💜🧚