
SASLAUTHD(8)                System Manager's Manual               SASLAUTHD(8)

NNAAMMEE
     ssaassllaauutthhdd - sasl authentication server

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
     ssaassllaauutthhdd --aa _a_u_t_h_m_e_c_h [--TTvv] [--HH _h_o_s_t_n_a_m_e] [--mm _m_u_x___p_a_t_h]

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
     ssaassllaauutthhdd is a daemon process that handles plaintext authentication re-
     quests on behalf of the SASL library.

     The server fulfills two roles: it isolates all code requiring superuser
     privileges into a single process, and it can be used to provide _p_r_o_x_y au-
     thentication services to clients that do not understand SASL based au-
     thentication.

     ssaassllaauutthhdd should be started from the system boot scripts when going to
     multi-user mode. When running against a protected authentication database
     (e.g. the shadow mechanism), it must be run as the superuser.

   OOppttiioonnss
     Options named by lower-case letters configure the server itself.  Up-
     per-case options control the behavior of specific authentication mecha-
     nisms; their applicability to a particular authentication mechanism is
     described in the _A_U_T_H_E_N_T_I_C_A_T_I_O_N _M_E_C_H_A_N_I_S_M_S section.

     --aa _a_u_t_h_m_e_c_h
             Use _a_u_t_h_m_e_c_h as the authentication mechanism. (See the
             _A_U_T_H_E_N_T_I_C_A_T_I_O_N _M_E_C_H_A_N_I_S_M_S section below.) This parameter is
             mandatory.

     --HH _h_o_s_t_n_a_m_e
             The remote host to be contacted by the rimap authentication mech-
             anism.

     --mm _p_a_t_h
             Use _p_a_t_h as the pathname to the named socket to listen on for
             connection requests. This must be an absolute pathname.

     --TT      Honour time-of-day login restrictions.

     --vv      Print the version number and available authentication mechanisms
             on standard error, then exit.

   LLooggggiinngg
     ssaassllaauutthhdd logs it's activities via ssyyssllooggdd using the LOG_AUTH facility.

AAUUTTHHEENNTTIICCAATTIIOONN MMEECCHHAANNIISSMMSS
     ssaassllaauutthhdd supports one or more "authentication mechanisms", dependent up-
     on the facilities provided by the underlying operating system.  The mech-
     anism is selected by the --aa flag from the following list of choices:

     sasldb     _(_A_l_l _p_l_a_t_f_o_r_m_s_)

                Authenticate against the SASL authentication database.

     dce        _(_A_I_X_)

                Authenticate using the DCE authentication environment.

     getpwent   _(_A_l_l _p_l_a_t_f_o_r_m_s_)


                Authenticate using the ggeettppwweenntt() library function. Typically
                this authenticates against the local password file. See your
                systems getpwent(3) man page for details.

     kerberos4  _(_A_l_l _p_l_a_t_f_o_r_m_s_)

                Authenticate against the local Kerberos 4 realm. (See the
                _N_O_T_E_S section for caveats about this driver.)

     kerberos5  _(_A_l_l _p_l_a_t_f_o_r_m_s_)

                Authenticate against the local Kerberos 5 realm.

     pam        _(_L_i_n_u_x_, _S_o_l_a_r_i_s_)

                Authenticate using Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM).

     rimap      _(_A_l_l _p_l_a_t_f_o_r_m_s_)

                Forward authentication requests to a remote IMAP server. This
                driver connects to a remote IMAP server, specified using the
                -H flag, and attempts to login (via an IMAP `LOGIN' command)
                using the credentials supplied to the local server. If the re-
                mote authentication succeeds the local connection is also con-
                sidered to be authenticated. The remote connection is closed
                as soon as the tagged response from the `LOGIN' command is re-
                ceived from the remote server.

                The _h_o_s_t_n_a_m_e parameter to the --HH flag describes the remote
                server to forward authentication requests to.  _h_o_s_t_n_a_m_e can be
                a hostname (imap.example.com) or a dotted-quad IP address
                (192.168.0.1). The latter is useful if the remote server is
                multi-homed and has network interfaces that are unreachable
                from the local IMAP server. The remote host is contacted on
                the `imap' service port. A non-default port can be specified
                by appending a slash and the port name or number to the
                _h_o_s_t_n_a_m_e argument.

                The --HH flag and argument are mandatory when using the rimap
                mechanism.

     shadow     _(_A_I_X_, _I_r_i_x_, _L_i_n_u_x_, _S_o_l_a_r_i_s_)

                Authenticate against the local "shadow password file". The ex-
                act mechanism is system dependent.  ssaassllaauutthhdd currently under-
                stands the ggeettssppnnaamm() and ggeettuusseerrppww() library routines. Some
                systems honour the --TT flag.

     sia        _(_D_i_g_i_t_a_l _U_N_I_X_)

                Authenticate using the Digital UNIX Security Integration Ar-
                chitecture (a.k.a.  "enhanced security").

NNOOTTEESS
     The kerberos4 authentication driver consumes considerable resources. To
     perform an authentication it must obtain a ticket granting ticket from
     the TGT server oonn eevveerryy aauutthheennttiiccaattiioonn rreeqquueesstt.. The Kerberos library rou-
     tines that obtain the TGT also create a local ticket file, on the reason-
     able assumption that you will want to save the TGT for use by other Ker-
     beros applications. These ticket files are unusable by ssaassllaauutthhdd, however
     there is no way not to create them. The overhead of creating and removing
     these ticket files can cause serious performance degradation on busy
     servers. (Kerberos was never intended to be used in this manner, anyway.)

FFIILLEESS


     /var/run/saslauthd/mux  The default communications socket.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
     passwd(1),  getpwent(3),  getspnam(3),  getuserpw(3),  sasl_checkpass(3)
     sia_authenticate_user(3),

 CMU-SASL                                                                    3
