diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7b260b75c..68fd0f6d8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -171,6 +171,17 @@ iCommands.
 Caveat for iRODS 4.3+: when upgrading from 4.2, the "irods_authentication_scheme" setting must be changed from "pam" to "pam_password" in
 `~/.irods/irods_environment.json` for all file-based client environments.
 
+To replicate iinit's capability for creating valid PAM login credentials file (.irodsA) for the client login environment, we can set these
+two configuration variables:
+
+```
+legacy_auth.pam.password_for_auto_renew "my_pam_password"
+legacy_auth.pam.store_password_to_environment True
+```
+
+Optionally, the `legacy_auth.pam.time_to_live_in_hours` may also be set to determine the time-to-live for the new password.
+Leaving it at the default value defers this decision to the server.
+
 Maintaining a connection
 ------------------------
 
diff --git a/irods/account.py b/irods/account.py
index 9c96cb485..430bd599d 100644
--- a/irods/account.py
+++ b/irods/account.py
@@ -1,15 +1,25 @@
+import os
+
 class iRODSAccount(object):
 
+    @property
+    def derived_auth_file(self):
+        return '' if not self.env_file else os.path.join(os.path.dirname(self.env_file),'.irodsA')
+
     def __init__(self, irods_host, irods_port, irods_user_name, irods_zone_name,
                  irods_authentication_scheme='native',
                  password=None, client_user=None,
-                 server_dn=None, client_zone=None, **kwargs):
+                 server_dn=None, client_zone=None,
+                 env_file = '',
+                 **kwargs):
+
 
         # Allowed overrides when cloning sessions. (Currently hostname only.)
         for k,v in kwargs.pop('_overrides',{}).items():
             if k =='irods_host':
                 irods_host = v
 
+        self.env_file = env_file
         tuplify = lambda _: _ if isinstance(_,(list,tuple)) else (_,)
         schemes = [_.lower() for _ in tuplify(irods_authentication_scheme)]
 
diff --git a/irods/client_init.py b/irods/client_init.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5fca637c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/irods/client_init.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import irods.client_configuration as cfg
+import irods.password_obfuscation as obf
+import irods.helpers as h
+import getpass
+import sys
+
+def write_credentials_with_native_password( password ):
+    s = h.make_session()
+    assert(not s.auth_file)
+    open(s.pool.account.derived_auth_file,'w').write(obf.encode(password))
+    return True
+
+def write_credentials_with_pam_password( password ):
+    s = h.make_session()
+    assert(not s.auth_file)
+    s.pool.account.password = password
+    with cfg.loadlines( [dict(setting='legacy_auth.pam.password_for_auto_renew',value='')] ):
+        to_encode = s.pam_pw_negotiated
+    if to_encode:
+        open(s.pool.account.derived_auth_file,'w').write(obf.encode(to_encode[0]))
+        return True
+    return False
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    vector = {
+        'pam': write_credentials_with_pam_password,
+        'native': write_credentials_with_native_password,
+    }
+
+    if sys.argv[1] in vector:
+        vector[sys.argv[1]](getpass.getpass(prompt=f'{sys.argv[1]} password: '))
+    else:
+        print('did not recognize authentication scheme argument',file = sys.stderr)
diff --git a/irods/connection.py b/irods/connection.py
index a40c712c9..4bc3bdcce 100644
--- a/irods/connection.py
+++ b/irods/connection.py
@@ -532,8 +532,9 @@ def _login_pam(self):
         self._login_native(password = auth_out.result_)
 
         # Store new password in .irodsA if requested.
-        if self.account._auth_file and cfg.legacy_auth.pam.store_password_to_environment:
-            with open(self.account._auth_file,'w') as f:
+        auth_file = (self.account._auth_file or self.account.derived_auth_file)
+        if auth_file and cfg.legacy_auth.pam.store_password_to_environment:
+            with open(auth_file,'w') as f:
                 f.write(obf.encode(auth_out.result_))
                 logger.debug('new PAM pw write succeeded')
 
diff --git a/irods/session.py b/irods/session.py
index 6bee2c313..03ace0ca8 100644
--- a/irods/session.py
+++ b/irods/session.py
@@ -210,10 +210,9 @@ def cleanup(self, new_host = ''):
             self.__configured = self.configure(**self.do_configure)
 
     def _configure_account(self, **kwargs):
-
+        env_file = None
         try:
             env_file = kwargs['irods_env_file']
-
         except KeyError:
             # For backward compatibility
             for key in ['host', 'port', 'authentication_scheme']:
@@ -232,6 +231,9 @@ def _configure_account(self, **kwargs):
         # Update with new keywords arguments only
         creds.update((key, value) for key, value in kwargs.items() if key not in creds)
 
+        if env_file:
+            creds['env_file'] = env_file
+
         # Get auth scheme
         try:
             auth_scheme = creds['irods_authentication_scheme']
@@ -259,10 +261,11 @@ def _configure_account(self, **kwargs):
         missing_file_path = []
         error_args = []
         pw = creds['password'] = self.get_irods_password(session_ = self, file_path_if_not_found = missing_file_path, **creds)
-        if not pw and creds.get('irods_user_name') != 'anonymous':
-            if missing_file_path:
-                error_args += ["Authentication file not found at {!r}".format(missing_file_path[0])]
-            raise NonAnonymousLoginWithoutPassword(*error_args)
+        if auth_scheme.lower() not in PAM_AUTH_SCHEMES:
+            if not pw and creds.get('irods_user_name') != 'anonymous':
+                if missing_file_path:
+                    error_args += ["Authentication file not found at {!r}".format(missing_file_path[0])]
+                raise NonAnonymousLoginWithoutPassword(*error_args)
 
         return iRODSAccount(**creds)