Re: Radius, BSD, Linux, etc

Stephen Zedalis (tintype@exis.net)
Wed, 9 Apr 1997 07:51:20 -0400 (EDT)

On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Stavros Patiniotis wrote:

> Does anyone currently (successfully) run a bsdi box as a primary
> radius server and linux as a secondary server, with automatic passwd
> updating every x hours??
> I gather linux will require shadowed passwd capable kernel.

Shadow passwords aren't a function of the kernel in linux. They are a
user mode function. In the more recent linux distributions, shadow
passwords and/or portable authentication modules (PAM) can be used.
Interestingly enough, there are PAM modules that allow a linux box to use
another RADIUS server for authentication for telnets, ftp, etc.

Biggest problems you may face when using system passwords may be the fact
that BSD, I believe uses a different crypt setup that is essentially
incompatible with the crypt in Linux. So encrypted passwords cannot
be simply transferred from one to the other.

> btw which distribution of linux integrates well with bsd?

None, or any of them. Depends on what you need for integration. You
certainly benefit if you stay with one OS.