Centralized Authentication
User access control is a critically important part of information security. On a single machine, keeping track of users and making sure only authorized people have access is simple, but as networks become larger, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep user accounts in sync on all machines, which is why large networks use centralized authentication mechanisms. Historically, UNIX-like systems usually used Network Information Service (NIS), developed by Sun Microsystems – a once widespread but now mostly unused protocol. These days, the choice is wider and includes standalone LDAP directories, Kerberos realms, or authentication solutions that provide a combination of a directory service for storing user information and single sign-on protocols, such as FreeIPA and Microsoft Active Directory.
In this chapter, we will learn about the following:
- Authentication and user information lookup frameworks in Linux
- The roles of the Name Service...
