KScrenLocker and PAM -------------------- KScreenLocker can be configured to support the PAM ("Pluggable Authentication Modules") system for password checking (for unlocking the display). PAM is a flexible application-transparent configurable user-authentication system found on FreeBSD, Solaris, and Linux (and maybe other unixes). Information about PAM may be found on its homepage http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/ (Despite the location, this information is NOT Linux-specific.) Known Solaris Issues: -------------------- For compiling PAM support on Solaris, PAM_MESSAGE_CONST must NOT be defined. This should now be handled automatically by the configure script. Using PAM --------- By default, PAM is automatically used, if it is found. If PAM is found, Plasma by default uses the PAM service "kde". You may override it for KScreenLocker by using -DKSCREENLOCKER_PAM_SERVICE=. A valid PAM service definition must be specified, either by installing files into /etc/pam.d/ or by adding service configuration to /etc/pam.conf. Either a valid "kde" service must be installed (or copied from the "login" service), or an alternative service must be specified using one of the definitions above. If the service is misconfigured, you will NOT be able to unlock a locked screen! If there is ever any doubt about which PAM service a program was compiled with, it can be determined by examining the PAM-generated entries in the system log associated with KScreenLocker authentication failures. PAM configuration files have four types of entries for each service, however KScreenLocker only uses the "auth" entries. Other programs using PAM may use other entries. There may be more than one entry of each type. Check existing PAM configuration files and PAM documentation on your system for guidance as to what entries to make. If you call a PAM service that is not configured, the default action of PAM is likely to be denial of service. Note: Screen lockers typically only authenticate a user to allow her to continue working. They may also renew tokens etc., where supported. See the Linux PAM Administrators guide, which is part of the PAM distribution, for more details.