---
name: "pam_syslog"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "pam"
version: "1.7.3-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pam_syslog"
---

# pam\_syslog(3)

send messages to the system logger

## NAME

pam\_syslog, pam\_vsyslog - send messages to the system logger

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <syslog.h>
```

```
#include <security/pam_ext.h>
```

**void pam\_syslog(const pam\_handle\_t \****pamh***, int** *priority***, const char \****fmt***,** *...***);**

**void pam\_vsyslog(const pam\_handle\_t \****pamh***, int** *priority***, const char \****fmt***, va\_list** *args***);**

## DESCRIPTION

The **pam\_syslog** function logs messages using [**syslog**(3)](/syslog/3.md) and is intended for internal use by Linux-PAM and PAM service modules. The *priority* argument is formed by ORing the facility and the level values as documented in the [**syslog**(3)](/syslog/3.md) manual page.

The **pam\_vsyslog** function performs the same task as **pam\_syslog()** with the difference that it takes a set of arguments which have been obtained using the [**stdarg**(3)](/stdarg/3.md) variable argument list macros.

## SEE ALSO

[**pam**(8)](/pam/8.md)

## STANDARDS

The **pam\_syslog** and **pam\_vsyslog** functions are Linux-PAM extensions.