Overview

How the Kerberos Server WorksHow the Kerberos Server Works

The basic currency of Kerberos is the ticket, which the user presents to use a specific service. Each service, be it a login service or an FTP service, requires a different kind of ticket. The applications on the Kerberos server keep track of all the various kinds of tickets.

When you first log on to Kerberos each day, you enter your Kerberos password. In return, the Kerberos server gives you an initial ticket, which you use to request additional tickets from the Kerberos server for all the other services. For this reason, the initial ticket is also called the ticket-granting ticket, or TGT.

Use the Kerberos protocol to secure the communication between the client and server. Thus, client programs make authentication requests to an authentication server, and server programs in turn service those client requests. Based on your user credentials, the server program grants or denies your request to access network applications and services. The Kerberos server allows entities to authenticate themselves, without having to transmit their passwords in clear text form over the network.

For more information on the basics of Kerberos, see Installing, Configuring and Administering the Kerberos Server on HP-UX 11i (T1417-0001), available at

http://www.docs.hp.com/hpux/internet/index.html#Kerberos.

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Chapter 1