Man page 8 : pam_env

pam_env - PAM module to set/unset environment variables

pam_env.so [debug] [conffile=conf-file] [envfile=env-file] [readenv=0|1] [user_envfile=env-file] [user_readenv=0|1]

The pam_env PAM module allows the (un)setting of environment variables. Supported is the use of previously set environment variables as well as PAM_ITEMs such as PAM_RHOST.

By default rules for (un)setting of variables is taken from the config file /etc/security/pam_env.conf if no other file is specified.

This module can also parse a file with simple KEY=VAL pairs on separate lines (/etc/environment by default). You can change the default file to parse, with the envfile flag and turn it on or off by setting the readenv flag to 1 or 0 respectively.

conffile=\fB/path/to/pam_env.conf\fR
    Indicate an alternative pam_env.conf style configuration file to override the default. This can be useful when different services need different environments.

debug
    A lot of debug information is printed with syslog(3).

envfile=\fB/path/to/environment\fR
    Indicate an alternative environment file to override the default. This can be useful when different services need different environments.

readenv=\fB0|1\fR
    Turns on or off the reading of the file specified by envfile (0 is off, 1 is on). By default this option is on.

user_envfile=\fBfilename\fR
    Indicate an alternative .pam_environment file to override the default. This can be useful when different services need different environments. The filename is relative to the user home directory.

user_readenv=\fB0|1\fR
    Turns on or off the reading of the user specific environment file. 0 is off, 1 is on. By default this option is on.

The auth and session module types are provided.

PAM_ABORT
    Not all relevant data or options could be gotten.

PAM_BUF_ERR
    Memory buffer error.

PAM_IGNORE
    No pam_env.conf and environment file was found.

PAM_SUCCESS
    Environment variables were set.

/etc/security/pam_env.conf
    Default configuration file

/etc/environment
    Default environment file

$HOME/.pam_environment
    User specific environment file

pam_env.conf(5), pam.d(5), pam(7).

pam_env was written by Dave Kinchlea <>.