pam_systemd(8) — Linux manual page
PAM_SYSTEMD(8) pam_systemd PAM_SYSTEMD(8)
NAME
pam_systemd - Register user sessions in the systemd login manager
SYNOPSIS
pam_systemd.so
DESCRIPTION
pam_systemd registers user sessions with the systemd login
manager systemd-logind.service(8), and hence the systemd control
group hierarchy.
The module also applies various resource management and runtime
parameters to the new session, as configured in the JSON User
Records[1] of the user, when one is defined.
On login, this module — in conjunction with
systemd-logind.service — ensures the following:
1. If it does not exist yet, the user runtime directory
/run/user/$UID is either created or mounted as new "tmpfs"
file system with quota applied, and its ownership changed to
the user that is logging in.
2. The $XDG_SESSION_ID environment variable is initialized. If
auditing is available and pam_loginuid.so was run before this
module (which is highly recommended), the variable is
initialized from the auditing session id
(/proc/self/sessionid). Otherwise, an independent session
counter is used.
3. A new systemd scope unit is created for the session. If this
is the first concurrent session of the user, an implicit
per-user slice unit below user.slice is automatically created
and the scope placed into it. An instance of the system
service user@.service, which runs the systemd user manager
instance, is started.
4. The "$TZ", "$EMAIL" and "$LANG" environment variables are
configured for the user, based on the respective data from
the user's JSON record (if it is defined). Moreover, any
environment variables explicitly configured in the user
record are imported, and the umask, nice level, and resource
limits initialized.
On logout, this module ensures the following:
1. If enabled in logind.conf(5) (KillUserProcesses=), all
processes of the session are terminated. If the last
concurrent session of a user ends, the user's systemd
instance will be terminated too, and so will the user's slice
unit.
2. If the last concurrent session of a user ends, the user
runtime directory /run/user/$UID and all its contents are
removed, too.
If the system was not booted up with systemd as init system, this
module does nothing and immediately returns PAM_SUCCESS.
OPTIONS
The following options are understood:
class=
Takes a string argument which sets the session class. The
XDG_SESSION_CLASS environment variable (see below) takes
precedence. See sd_session_get_class(3) for a way to query
the class of a session. The following session classes are
defined:
Table 1. Session Classes
┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┐
│ Name │ Explanation │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ user │ A regular interactive │
│ │ user session. This is │
│ │ the default class for │
│ │ sessions for which a TTY │
│ │ or X display is known at │
│ │ session registration │
│ │ time. │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ user-early │ Similar to "user" but │
│ │ sessions of this class │
│ │ are not ordered after │
│ │ systemd-user-sessions.service, │
│ │ i.e. may be started │
│ │ before regular sessions │
│ │ are allowed to be │
│ │ established. This │
│ │ session class is the │
│ │ default for sessions of │
│ │ the root user that would │
│ │ otherwise qualify for │
│ │ the user class, see │
│ │ above. (Added in v256.) │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ user-incomplete │ Similar to "user" but for │
│ │ sessions which are not fully │
│ │ set up yet, i.e. have no home │
│ │ directory mounted or similar. │
│ │ This is used by │
│ │ systemd-homed.service(8) to │
│ │ allow users to log in via ssh │
│ │ before their home directory is │
│ │ mounted, delaying the mount │
│ │ until the user provided the │
│ │ unlock password. Sessions of │
│ │ this class are upgraded to the │
│ │ regular user class once the │
│ │ home directory is activated. │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ greeter │ Similar to "user" but for │
│ │ sessions that are spawned by a │
│ │ display manager ephemerally │
│ │ and which prompt the user for │
│ │ login credentials. │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ lock-screen │ Similar to "user" but for │
│ │ sessions that are spawned by a │
│ │ display manager ephemerally │
│ │ and which show a lock screen │
│ │ that can be used to unlock │
│ │ locked user accounts or │
│ │ sessions. │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ background │ Used for background sessions, │
│ │ such as those invoked by cron │
│ │ and similar tools. This is the │
│ │ default class for sessions for │
│ │ which no TTY or X display is │
│ │ known at session registration │
│ │ time. │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ background-light │ Similar to background, but │
│ │ sessions of this class will │
│ │ not pull in the user@.service │
│ │ of the user, and thus possibly │
│ │ have no services of the user │
│ │ running. (Added in v256.) │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ manager │ The user@.service service of │
│ │ the user is registered under │
│ │ this session class. (Added in │
│ │ v256.) │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ manager-early │ Similar to manager, but for │
│ │ the root user. Compare with │
│ │ the user vs. user-early │
│ │ situation. (Added in v256.) │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┘
Added in version 197.
type=
Takes a string argument which sets the session type. The
XDG_SESSION_TYPE environment variable (see below) takes
precedence. One of "unspecified", "tty", "x11", "wayland" or
"mir". See sd_session_get_type(3) for details about the
session type.
Added in version 209.
desktop=
Takes a single, short identifier string for the desktop
environment. The XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP environment variable
(see below) takes precedence. This may be used to indicate
the session desktop used, where this applies and if this
information is available. For example: "GNOME", or "KDE". It
is recommended to use the same identifiers and capitalization
as for $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP, as defined by the Desktop Entry
Specification[2]. (However, note that the option only takes a
single item, and not a colon-separated list like
$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP.) See sd_session_get_desktop(3) for
further details.
Added in version 240.
default-capability-bounding-set=, default-capability-ambient-set=
Takes a comma-separated list of process capabilities (e.g.
CAP_WAKE_ALARM, CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND, ...) to set for the
invoked session's processes, if the user record does not
encode appropriate sets of capabilities directly. See
capabilities(7) for details on the capabilities concept. If
not specified, the default bounding set is left as is (i.e.
usually contains the full set of capabilities). The default
ambient set is set to CAP_WAKE_ALARM for regular users if the
PAM session is associated with a local seat or if it is
invoked for the "systemd-user" service. Otherwise defaults to
the empty set.
Added in version 254.
debug[=]
Takes an optional boolean argument. If yes or without the
argument, the module will log debugging information as it
operates.
MODULE TYPES PROVIDED
Only session is provided.
ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variables are initialized by the module
and available to the processes of the user's session:
$XDG_SESSION_ID
A short session identifier, suitable to be used in filenames.
The string itself should be considered opaque, although often
it is just the audit session ID as reported by
/proc/self/sessionid. Each ID will be assigned only once
during machine uptime. It may hence be used to uniquely label
files or other resources of this session. Combine this ID
with the boot identifier, as returned by
sd_id128_get_boot(3), for a globally unique identifier.
$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
Path to a user-private user-writable directory that is bound
to the user login time on the machine. It is automatically
created the first time a user logs in and removed on the
user's final logout. If a user logs in twice at the same
time, both sessions will see the same $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR and
the same contents. If a user logs in once, then logs out
again, and logs in again, the directory contents will have
been lost in between, but applications should not rely on
this behavior and must be able to deal with stale files. To
store session-private data in this directory, the user should
include the value of $XDG_SESSION_ID in the filename. This
directory shall be used for runtime file system objects such
as AF_UNIX sockets, FIFOs, PID files and similar. It is
guaranteed that this directory is local and offers the
greatest possible file system feature set the operating
system provides. For further details, see the XDG Base
Directory Specification[3]. $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set if
the current user is not the original user of the session.
$TZ, $EMAIL, $LANG
If a JSON user record is known for the user logging in these
variables are initialized from the respective data in the
record.
Added in version 245.
The following environment variables are read by the module and
may be used by the PAM service to pass metadata to the module. If
these variables are not set when the PAM module is invoked but
can be determined otherwise they are set by the module, so that
these variables are initialized for the session and applications
if known at all.
$XDG_SESSION_TYPE
The session type. This may be used instead of type= on the
module parameter line, and is usually preferred.
Added in version 209.
$XDG_SESSION_CLASS
The session class. This may be used instead of class= on the
module parameter line, and is usually preferred.
Added in version 209.
$XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP
The desktop identifier. This may be used instead of desktop=
on the module parameter line, and is usually preferred.
Added in version 209.
$XDG_SEAT
The seat name the session shall be registered for, if any.
Added in version 209.
$XDG_VTNR
The VT number the session shall be registered for, if any.
(Only applies to seats with a VT available, such as "seat0")
Added in version 209.
If not set, pam_systemd will initialize $XDG_SEAT and $XDG_VTNR
based on the $DISPLAY variable (if the latter is set).
SESSION LIMITS
PAM modules earlier in the stack, that is those that come before
pam_systemd.so, can set session scope limits using the PAM
context objects. The data for these objects is provided as
NUL-terminated C strings and maps directly to the respective unit
resource control directives. Note that these limits apply to
individual sessions of the user, they do not apply to all user
processes as a combined whole. In particular, the per-user
user@.service unit instance, which runs the systemd --user
manager process and its children, and is tracked outside of any
session, being shared by all the user's sessions, is not covered
by these limits.
See systemd.resource-control(5) for more information about the
resources. Also, see pam_set_data(3) for additional information
about how to set the context objects.
systemd.memory_max=
Sets unit MemoryMax=.
Added in version 239.
systemd.tasks_max=
Sets unit TasksMax=.
Added in version 239.
systemd.cpu_weight=
Sets unit CPUWeight=.
Added in version 239.
systemd.io_weight=
Sets unit IOWeight=.
Added in version 239.
systemd.runtime_max_sec=
Sets unit RuntimeMaxSec=.
Added in version 244.
Example data as can be provided from an another PAM module:
pam_set_data(handle, "systemd.memory_max", (void *)"200M", cleanup);
pam_set_data(handle, "systemd.tasks_max", (void *)"50", cleanup);
pam_set_data(handle, "systemd.cpu_weight", (void *)"100", cleanup);
pam_set_data(handle, "systemd.io_weight", (void *)"340", cleanup);
pam_set_data(handle, "systemd.runtime_max_sec", (void *)"3600", cleanup);
EXAMPLE
Here's an example PAM configuration fragment that allows users
sessions to be managed by systemd-logind.service:
#%PAM-1.0
auth sufficient pam_unix.so
-auth sufficient pam_systemd_home.so
auth required pam_deny.so
account required pam_nologin.so
-account sufficient pam_systemd_home.so
account sufficient pam_unix.so
account required pam_permit.so
-password sufficient pam_systemd_home.so
password sufficient pam_unix.so sha512 shadow try_first_pass
password required pam_deny.so
-session optional pam_keyinit.so revoke
-session optional pam_loginuid.so
-session optional pam_systemd_home.so
-session optional pam_systemd.so
session required pam_unix.so
SEE ALSO
systemd(1), systemd-logind.service(8), logind.conf(5),
loginctl(1), pam_systemd_home(8), pam.conf(5), pam.d(5), pam(8),
pam_loginuid(8), systemd.scope(5), systemd.slice(5),
systemd.service(5)
NOTES
1. JSON User Records
https://systemd.io/USER_RECORD
2. Desktop Entry Specification
https://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/
3. XDG Base Directory Specification
https://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html
COLOPHON
This page is part of the systemd (systemd system and service
manager) project. Information about the project can be found at
⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd⟩. If you have
a bug report for this manual page, see
⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/#bugreports⟩.
This page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/systemd/systemd.git⟩ on 2024-06-14. (At that
time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
repository was 2024-06-13.) If you discover any rendering
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systemd 257~devel PAM_SYSTEMD(8)
Pages that refer to this page: org.freedesktop.login1(5), systemd.exec(5), user@.service(5), systemd.directives(7), systemd.index(7), pam_systemd_home(8), systemd-logind.service(8)