Network authentication for UNIX and Linux

[Derek Atkins]

Mark Woodward <markw-FJ05HQ0HCKaWd6l5hS35sQ at public.gmane.org> writes:

> Windows uses "Active Directory" for domain management. If you don't know 
> what that is, its Microsoft's domain system that was rewritten around a 
> set of services with ldap.
>
> What would be the equivalent under UNIX/Linux? Is NIS the standard, if 
> so, really?!?

LDAP + Kerberos.

LDAP provides the /etc/passwd information; Kerberos provides the
authentication.  Theoretically you could put the /etc/shadow password
information into LDAP, but then you're shipping hashed passwords over
the network which some might consider insecure.

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
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