---
name: "pam_issue"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "pam"
version: "1.7.3-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pam_issue"
---

# pam\_issue(8)

PAM module to add issue file to user prompt

## NAME

pam\_issue - PAM module to add issue file to user prompt

## SYNOPSIS

**pam\_issue.so** \[noesc\] \[issue=*issue-file-name*\]

## DESCRIPTION

pam\_issue is a PAM module to prepend an issue file to the username prompt. It also by default parses escape codes in the issue file similar to some common getty's (using \\x format).

Recognized escapes:

\\d

current day

\\l

name of this tty

\\m

machine architecture (uname -m)

\\n

machine's network node hostname (uname -n)

\\o

domain name of this system

\\r

release number of operating system (uname -r)

\\t

current time

\\s

operating system name (uname -s)

\\u

number of users currently logged in

\\U

same as \\u except it is suffixed with "user" or "users" (eg. "1 user" or "10 users")

\\v

operating system version and build date (uname -v)

## OPTIONS

noesc

Turns off escape code parsing.

issue=issue-file-name

The file to output if not using the default.

## MODULE TYPES PROVIDED

Only the **auth** module type is provided.

## RETURN VALUES

PAM\_BUF\_ERR

Memory buffer error.

PAM\_IGNORE

The prompt was already changed.

PAM\_SERVICE\_ERR

A service module error occurred.

PAM\_SUCCESS

The new prompt was set successfully.

## EXAMPLES

Add the following line to /etc/pam.d/login to set the user specific issue at login:

```
        auth optional pam_issue.so issue=/etc/issue
```

## SEE ALSO

[**pam.conf**(5)](/pam.conf/5.md), [**pam.d**(5)](/pam.d/5.md), [**pam**(8)](/pam/8.md)

## AUTHOR

pam\_issue was written by Ben Collins \<bcollins@debian.org\>.