PAM Mastery (IT Mastery) Kindle Edition

Gteat in-depth on PAM, its uses and options. Explains how and why to use it i. Server implementation.

I can't think of an admin that wouldn't benefit from reading this book. It's a great primer for understanding how to read and assemble pam configurations.

Hard to say we can master something but this is a good book regardless as are the rest from Mr. Lucas.

Great book!!!! I hope the author would write about FreeBSD Bhyve next :)

I'm in the enviable position of not having to use PAM much nowadays. However, I still have scars and nightmares from tangling with it in the past.Many of those problems would not have happened had this book existed years ago. I have seen various write-ups of PAM before. None of them compare to this book. None.This is the most comprehensible, most cogent treatise on PAM I have seen. You will understand PAM. You may also end up horrified at how few people understand a system that underlies authentication on most UNIX systems out there.If you have to deal with PAM, you should already be buying this book.

Like all the Lucas books I've read, this is clearly written and well organized. It also happens to be the only book on PAM currently available. I feel like $20 is maybe a bit overpriced for a 150 page book, but then that's what being a monopoly affords you.

I'm now a big fan of MWL's books. This is my 5th, and all are great. Like his others, this book breaks PAM down from a seasoned SysAdmin's perspective. Each page is packed with valuable details, tips, gotchas, and more, all shrouded in his characteristic dry humor (tho this is the most serious one I've read so far, maybe owing to the complexity of the topic).PAM is still confusing to me, tho I'm really a developer and still new to Linux and the SysAdmin way. I was able to understand everything in this book, but without actually running the countless examples and scenarios Lucas covers in a real machine it's hard to really feel confident. Like his other books, I'll need to read this a couple more times before I can hope to fully understand/retain it all.A couple points you should know:1) More than his other book topics, PAM seems to be very different on Red Hat vs. Debian vs. BSD systems. Lucas does a nice job of digging into the differences in each chapter, but the result is that this book at times feels a bit schizophrenic due to all that mental context switching (but you'll appreciate it when he's talking about the flavor(s) of _nix that you maintain).2) As usual with Lucas, each page is packed with value and detail, but it's mostly all buried in long conversational prose. There are some sample code blocks sprinkled throughout, but it's going to be harder to flip back through this book as a reference in the future without reading it all again. I really wish he'd hire a layout designer to help him structure his content in a more future-reference-friendly way.Final word: PAM is terribly confusing. This book isn't perfect, and it doesn't cover everything you may need, but it's easy to read and mostly makes sense, even to a newbie like me. If you need to sort out a PAM issue, this book will probably help.

Michael W Lucas hat bereits mehrere Bücher verfasst...alle gut und voll mit Praxiswissen. 1 Stern muss ich abziehen, da -wie immer bei diesem Autor- Diagramme und sonstige visuelle Darstellungen nicht gegeben sind.

I am a linux sysadmin with 8+ years of experience work(ed/ing) on enterprise linux systems, i didnt get chance to look at PAM till recently where i have to fix some PAM vulnerabilities as part of qualys security scans, then I struggled to understand for a few days what the PAM is, then i found this great book, purchased the kindle edition for 400/- INR, now after reading it, of course still reading it,, not completed yet,...yet to jump to other issue or things to learn until i finish this book.Thanks for the author for compiling such information which he shared with us, he might have spent more time in understanding PAM things than me, ie, i learnt them quickly because of him(his book :-)), thank again Michael.

Well written and explained the complex matter in a very easy and understandable manner. If you read it, you will not regret.