Lesson 7

Date: 3/5/2009
Kerberos Authentication
Linux for Engineering and IT applications


NIS/Kerberos Centralized Authentication


  • Kerberos provides strong authentication mechanism, but doesn't store user account data.

  • NIS stores user account data, such as UID, GID, home directory, and login shell, but doesn't contain password hashes for security reasons.

  • Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) is configurable for services that require authentication.



  • PAM obtains the TGT from KDC, caches it, and allows to login if a user provides valid credentials.


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