Each PAM-aware application or service has a file in the /etc/pam.d/ directory. Each file in this directory has the same name as the service to which it controls access.

The PAM-aware program is responsible for defining its service name and installing its own PAM configuration file in the /etc/pam.d/ directory. For example, the login program defines its service name as login and installs the /etc/pam.d/login PAM configuration file.