PAM_NOLOGIN(8)

💅 pam_nologin — from the PAM_NOLOGIN(8) girlies 🎀

okay so bestie, you're reading the Linux-PAM Manual page for pam_nologin, and honestly? it's giving "bouncer at the club door but for your whole system" 🔥 let's get into it.

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✨ NAME ✨

pam_nologin — no cap, this one is literally just Prevent non-root users from login 💖

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

pam_nologin.so [file=/path/nologin] [successok]

she's short, she's sweet, she has two optional little arguments and she knows it ✨

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the tea: pam_nologin is a PAM module that stops users from logging into the system whenever /var/run/nologin or /etc/nologin exists. that's the whole vibe check 👑

and the contents of that file? they get displayed to the user 📢 so if you want to leave a little note like "brb maintenance, come back later bestie", that's literally the mechanism, slay.

but — and this is the important part — the pam_nologin module has no effect on the root user's ability to log in. root stays in the club, always. main character energy fr fr 💅

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• file=/path/nologin — use this file instead of the default /var/run/nologin or /etc/nologin. custom file, custom drama, we love options 🫶
• successok — return PAM_SUCCESS if no file exists. the default is PAM_IGNORE instead. that's it, that's the flag ✨

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💜 MODULE TYPES PROVIDED 💜

the auth and account module types are provided. two icons, one module, periodt 🎀

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🌈 RETURN VALUES 🌈

• PAM_AUTH_ERR — the user is not root and /etc/nologin exists, so the user is not permitted to log in. door's closed babe 😭
• PAM_BUF_ERR — memory buffer error. not the vibe 💀
• PAM_IGNORE — this is the default return value. the chill one 🦋
• PAM_SUCCESS — success: either the user is root or the nologin file does not exist. both paths are a W 🙌
• PAM_USER_UNKNOWN — user not known to the underlying authentication module. she doesn't know you like that 🙈

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⭐ EXAMPLES ⭐

the suggested usage for /etc/pam.d/login is:

auth  required  pam_nologin.so

short. iconic. copy it into your config and move on with your day 💖

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🔥 NOTES 🔥

okay listen, this is the part where we get serious for a sec, no cap:

in order to make this module effective, all login methods should be secured by it. it should be used as a required method listed before any sufficient methods in order to get standard Unix nologin semantics. order matters, bestie, the stacking is real 📚

and now the big warning: note that the use of the successok module argument causes the module to return PAM_SUCCESS, and as such would break such a configuration — failing sufficient modules would lead to a successful login because the nologin module succeeded. like, the guard just let everyone in and called it a win 😭 so be careful with successok, fr fr.

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

nologin(5), pam.conf(5), pam.d(5), pam(8) — go read your sisters, they're all icons in their own right 💅

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

pam_nologin was written by Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com>. thank you king 🫶

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and that's the page, bestie!! this one came from the Linux-PAM manual, dated 09/27/2026, and honestly it ate. go forth and nologin responsibly 💖✨🎀