Node: Keytabs, Next: Clock Skew, Previous: Application Servers, Up: Application Servers

### Keytabs

A keytab is a host's copy of its own keylist, which is analogous to a user's password. An application server that needs to authenticate itself to the KDC has to have a keytab that contains its own principal and key. Just as it is important for users to protect their passwords, it is equally important for hosts to protect their keytabs. You should always store keytab files on local disk, and make them readable only by root, and you should never send a keytab file over a network in the clear. Ideally, you should run the `kadmin` command to extract a keytab on the host on which the keytab is to reside.