33. Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)

Question 1

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

Answer 1

• Explain the basic concepts that motivate the use of PAM.
• List the steps involved in the authentication process.
• Use and modify PAM configuration files.
• Know how to interpret PAM rules and create new ones.
• Apply LDAP to use and administer distributed directory services over the network.

Question 2

PAM: A Unified Approach to Authentication

What does PAM stand for?

Answer 2

Plugable Authentication Module

Question 3

PAM: A Unified Approach to Authentication

What is PAM used for?

Answer 3

It a unified approach for applications to authenicate users via many different authenication methods. It is a shared library/module that applications can import to use to authenticate users rather then roll out their own authentication strategy (why keep rebuilding the wheel).