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README for ShadowJaas

This is a JAAS-compliant authentication-provider using the shadow-password system of Linux. It might also work for other dialects of Unix. Feedback on this issue is appreciated.

The source distribution contains all the source (I hope this doesn't surprise you ;-) and a system of makefiles. You need the JDK to compile it.

LICENSING ISSUES

This package is distributed under the terms of the LGPL, see COPYING.LIB for details.

Compilation should be no problem. You should set the variable JAVA_HOME (or edit the makefile). Also, if you don't use jikes, you should change the variables JAVAC and JAVAC_OPT in the makefile. A better alternative is to install jikes, it will speed up your development by a factor of 2-3.

INSTALLATION

Run

> make world
> su -c "make install PREFIX=foo SHADOW_GROUP=bar"

This will install the binary, the api-docs and the jar relative to PREFIX. The default PREFIX is /usr/local. The binary is only executable for root and members of SHADOW_GROUP, which defaults to shadow.

TESTING

After compilation and installation, you can run:

> make test

You will be prompted for username and password (which is visible, in contrast to the api-doc of SUN!). If username/password is correct, you will see the message "login successful" and the list of principals. In the case the user is "root", you also see the message "running restricted code ... done". Otherwise, the message is "access to restricted code denied".

The policy file is in etc/test.policy, you can change the user which has the privileges here. You can also turn on debug-messages in etc/jaas.policy.

NOTE: Java (at least 1.4.0) seems to have problems executing the binary if the user does not have shadow as the primary group. So before executing "make test", su to a user with shadow as primary group.

DEBIAN

A volunteer maintainer for a Debian-package would be appriciated!

SUPPORT

If you think you found a bug or want to contribute some code please drop me a note.