PAM_CK_CONNECTOR(8)

💖 pam_ck_connector — the PAM module that gets your session on the guest list 💖

okay bestie, so this is pam_ck_connector from the ConsoleKit manual, section 8 (that's the admin/system-commands girlies, iykyk). She registers sessions with ConsoleKit and honestly? she's serving.

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pam_ck_connector.so [debug]

that's it. one module, one optional little flag. minimal, iconic, no notes. 🎀

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so the way that pam_ck_connector works is: it registers a login session with the system-wide ConsoleKit daemon. that's her whole job, and she does it well. 💅

but — and listen, this is the important part — use this PAM module with caution. it is not for everyone. only local login managers like login(1) should be touching this. like, it's giving exclusive VIP list energy. 🚫

and here's why: the ConsoleKit daemon can accept both a tty and an X11 display, which means the normal parameters that PAM sets up are not always useful. lowkey awkward for PAM, honestly. 😭

so an application can override those normal parameters with these PAM environment variables:

• CKCON_TTY
• CKCON_X11_DISPLAY
• CKCON_X11_DISPLAY_DEVICE

and the application should remember to unset these before starting the login session. don't forget, bestie, that's a whole vibe-killer if you forget. 🙈

also, heads up: the ConsoleKit daemon may straight up reject registration attempts if the given set of data are inconsistent with each other. like, she will clock the mismatch and say no. 🕵️♀️ for more information, go look at the ConsoleKit documentation on the OpenSessionWithParameters() method call on the org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Manager D-Bus interface. iykyk.

if registration with the ConsoleKit daemon succeeds? ✨ she sets the environment variable XDG_SESSION_COOKIE, which is used to define membership of a login session. basically your little membership card. 🎟️

and now the plot twist nobody expects: this PAM module has a side effect. it creates a connection to the system message bus that is kept open until the session ends. the ConsoleKit daemon uses that connection to track the life-cycle of the session — and as such, should the login manager crash, the session will be properly unregistered. no orphan sessions, no mess, slay. 🔥

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• debug — prints debug information. when you need to see the receipts, bestie. 🔍
• nox11 — do not create a session if PAM specifies an X11 display instead of a /dev/tty terminal. like, tty only, x11 can see itself out. 🚪

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• pam.conf(5)
• pam.d(8)
• pam(8)
• dbus-daemon(1)

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

pam_ck_connector was written by David Zeuthen <davidz@redhat.com>. ty for your service king 🫶

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and that's the whole page, periodt 💖 this was the ConsoleKit Manual, dated 02/27/2007 — yes she's an elder but she still ate. PAM_CK_CONNECTOR(8), section 8, no cap. go register those sessions responsibly ✨