function to authenticate users from within php against linux user accounts on the server

php-auth-linux-account.php

/*    Need to add www-data to group shadow (and restart apache)
        $ sudo adduser www-data shadow
        $ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
      Needs whois to be installed to run mkpasswd
        $ sudo apt-get install whois
      Assumes that sha-512 is used in shadow file
*/

function authenticate($user, $pass){
  // run shell command to output shadow file, and extract line for $user
  // then spit the shadow line by $ or : to get component parts
  // store in $shad as array
  $shad =  preg_split("/[$:]/",`cat /etc/shadow | grep "^$user\:"`);
  // use mkpasswd command to generate shadow line passing $pass and $shad[3] (salt)
  // split the result into component parts
  $mkps = preg_split("/[$:]/",trim(`mkpasswd -m sha-512 $pass $shad[3]`));
  // compare the shadow file hashed password with generated hashed password and return
  return ($shad[4] == $mkps[3]);
}

// usage...
if(authenticate('myUsername','myPassword')){
  // logged in   
} else {
  // not valid user
}