pam_pkcs11(8)

💖 pam_pkcs11(8) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the pam_pkcs11 page — the System Administration tools manual, section 8, and no cap it's a good one. sit down, grab a 🍓, let's get into it.

✨ NAME ✨

pam_pkcs11 — the PAM Authentication Module for PKCS#11 token libraries. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

pam_pkcs11.so [debug] [configfile=<configfile>]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so this Linux-PAM login module lets a user log in based on an X.509 certificate. iconic behavior, honestly. 🔥

the way it works: the certificate and its dedicated private key get accessed by means of an appropriate PKCS #11 module. and for verifying the users' certificates, it uses locally stored CA certificates plus either online or locally accessible CRLs. so many acronyms, but she handles it. 💅

👑 CONFIGURATION 👑

the program that needs a PAM service should be configured in /etc/pam.conf or /etc/pam.d/<servicename>. (yes, <servicename> is a placeholder — swap in your actual service name, bestie, don't type it literally 😭)

pam_pkcs11 can be used in the <auth> PAM chain. ✨

for the details on how to configure PAM services, go look at the PAM documentation for your system — this manual does not cover PAM configuration details, periodt. the existing PAM service definitions for other applications on your system are also a really good source for examples on how to configure a PAM service. go read those, they ate. 📚

🎀 FILES 🎀

• /etc/pam_pkcs11/pam_pkcs11.conf
• /usr/lib/pam_pkcs11/*_mapper.so

💜 AUTHOR 💜

the original PAM-pkcs11 was written by Mario Strasser <mast@gmx.net>. newer versions are from Juan Antonio Martinez <jonsito@teleline.es>. absolute main characters, both of them. 👑

🫶 REPORTING BUGS 🫶

got bugs, ideas, comments, bug-fixes and so on? send them all to: Juan Antonio Martinez <jonsito@teleline.es>. he wants to hear it fr fr, don't be shy. 🐛

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• pam(8)
• pam_pkcs11.conf(5)
• PAM Systems Administrator Guide
• README.mappers file
• PAM-PKCS#11 User Manual

and that's the page, babe. this one was dated 15-Feb-2005 and written by Mario Strasser, and yeah we're still out here running pam_pkcs11(8) all these years later. lowkey iconic. bye bestie, go log in securely 💖✨🦋