System Administration Guide: Security Services

Kerberos Principal Names

Each ticket is identified by a principal name. The principal name can identify a user or a service. Here are examples of several principal names.

Table 27–4 Examples of Kerberos Principal Names

Principal Name 

Description 

changepw/kdc1.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal for the master KDC server that allows access to the KDC when you are changing passwords. 

clntconfig/admin@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal that is used by the kclient installation utility.

ftp/boston.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal used by the ftp service. This principal can be used instead of a host principal.

host/boston.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal that is used by the Kerberized applications (klist and kprop, for example) and services (such as ftp and telnet). This principal is called a host or service principal. The principal is used to authenticate NFS mounts. This principal is also used by a client to verify that the TGT that is issued to the client is from the correct KDC.

K/M@EXAMPLE.COM

The master key name principal. One master key name principal is associated with each master KDC. 

kadmin/history@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal that includes a key used to keep password histories for other principals. Each master KDC has one of these principals. 

kadmin/kdc1.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal for the master KDC server that allows access to the KDC by using kadmind.

kadmin/changepw.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal that is used to accept password change requests from clients that are not running a Solaris release. 

krbtgt/EXAMPLE.COM@EXAMPLE.COM

This principal is used when you generate a ticket-granting ticket. 

krbtgt/EAST.EXAMPLE.COM@WEST.EXAMPLE.COM

This principal is an example of a cross-realm ticket-granting ticket. 

nfs/boston.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal that is used by the NFS service. This principal can be used instead of a host principal.

root/boston.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal that is associated with the root account on a client. This principal is called a root principal and provides root access to NFS mounted file systems..

username@EXAMPLE.COM

A principal for a user. 

username/admin@EXAMPLE.COM

An admin principal that can be used to administer the KDC database.