Re: GSSAPI or Kerberos authentication problems

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005, Mike Warnecke wrote:

> I'm using the postgresql-jdbc driver with OpenOffice.org 2.0, and I
> can't get it to use GSSAPI authentication using my Kerberos credentials.
> I have no other apps that use postgresql-jdbc, but it appears as though
> the problem is in this driver, not OOo.
>
> psql And other apps using the native PostgreSQL interface work fine
> using Kerberos authentication, just not JDBC.
>
> Does the postgresql-jdbc driver support Kerberos/GSSAPI authentication?
> If not, what is required to get it done?
>

The JDBC driver does not currently support kerberos auth.  Since the
driver is pure Java we cannot rely on the standard postgresql client
library (libpq) and its kerberos support.  When the driver was initially
written the only kerberos support available required separate third party
libraries.  With the availability of JAAS in JDK 1.3 and subsequent
integration in JDK 1.4 that is no longer the case.  I imagine someone
familiar with JAAS and kerberos could add support to the driver relatively
easily, but Java and kerberos do not seem like a common combination (at
least in the Postgresql world).  Without the expertise or the demand for
this feature it doesn't seem likely that it will happen anytime soon.

Kris Jurka