Before proceeding to read the rest of this document, it should be noted that the text assumes that certain files are placed in certain directories. Where they have been specified, the conventions we adopt here for locating these files are those of the relevant RFC (RFC-86.0, see bibliography"). If you are using a distribution of Linux (or some other operating system) that supports PAM but chooses to distribute these files in a diferent way you should be careful when copying examples directly from the text.

As an example of the above, where it is explicit, the text assumes that PAM loadable object files (the modules) are to be located in the following directory: /lib/security/ or /lib64/security depending on the architecture. This is generally the location that seems to be compatible with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS). On Solaris, which has its own licensed version of PAM, and some other implementations of UN*X, these files can be found in /usr/lib/security. Please be careful to perform the necessary transcription when using the examples from the text.