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How the Kerberos Server Works
Chapter 126
How 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.