PAM_GET_ITEMS(8)

💅 PAM_GET_ITEMS 💅

okay bestie, welcome to PAM_GET_ITEMS(8) — yes that's section 8, admin/system tools territory, we're fancy now. this is pam_get_items, and it's literally the nosiest little PAM test module you've ever met. it's giving "let me see everything" energy and honestly? iconic. 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

pam_get_items — a PAM test module to retrieve module-specific PAM items. yes that's the whole job. she does one thing and she slays it. 👑

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

pam_get_items.so

that's it. that's the whole synopsis. no flags, no arguments, she simply exists. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the tea, bestie. ☕

PAM modules store data in PAM items. these items are only accessible from module context, not application context — because they might include private data (and yes, PAM_AUTHTOK normally contains the password, so like… obviously we're not just handing that out 🙈).

but when you're testing PAM modules, it's often nice to make sure a PAM module under test sets items for the next module the way it's supposed to. like, did you actually do the thing? vibe check. ✨

the pam_get_items module makes this possible by exporting all PAM items as environment variables using pam_putenv. and the environment variable name? it's the same as the constant name of the PAM item. no renaming, no remixing, no creative liberties. fr fr. 💯

💖 OPTIONS 💖

• None — zero options. nothing to configure. she woke up and chose simplicity. 🌈

👑 MODULE TYPES PROVIDED 👑

All module types are provided — that's account, auth, password and session. every single one. main character energy across the entire stack. 💜

🧚 EXAMPLE 🧚

okay consider this example that tests that pam_unix puts the password it reads onto the PAM stack. the test service file would contain:

auth required        pam_unix.so
auth required        pam_get_items.so

then the test would run the PAM conversation and afterwards call:

pam_getenv(pamh, "PAM_AUTHTOK");

to retrieve the password. boom. got 'em. 🍓

bestie reminder: that PAM_AUTHTOK is the literal password, so be normal about it, okay? 😭

🌟 SEE ALSO... jk, there's no SEE ALSO section 🌟

ngl there really isn't one. i checked. don't come for me. 💀

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this manual page is dated 2015-11-04 and it lives as PAM_GET_ITEMS(8) — so like, section 8, the system administration girlies. she's been out here since 2015 and she still eats. ate and left no crumbs. periodt. 🫶💖✨