Users Guide

Setup and Administration 21
Authentication
The Server Administrator authentication scheme ensures that the correct
access types are assigned to the correct user privileges. Additionally,
when the command line interface (CLI) is invoked, the Server Administrator
authentication scheme validates the context within which the current
process is running. This authentication scheme ensures that all Server
Administrator functions, whether accessed through the Server Administrator
home page or CLI, are properly authenticated.
Microsoft Windows Authentication
For supported Microsoft Windows operating systems, Server Administrator
authentication uses Integrated Windows Authentication (formerly called
NTLM) to authenticate. This authentication system allows Server
Administrator security to be incorporated in an overall security scheme
foryournetwork.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Authentication
For supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
operating systems, Server Administrator uses various authentication methods
based on the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) library. Users can log
in to Server Administrator either locally or remotely using different account
management protocols, such as LDAP, NIS, Kerberos, and Winbind.
VMware ESX Server 4.X
VMware ESX Server uses the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)
structure for authentication when users access the ESX Server host. The PAM
configuration for VMware services is located in /etc/pam.d/vmware-authd,
which stores paths to authentication modules.
The default installation of ESX Server uses /etc/passwd authentication, just as
Linux does, but you can configure ESX Server to use another distributed
authentication mechanism.
NOTE: On systems running VMware ESX Server 4.1 operating system, to login to
the Server Administrator, all users require Administrator privileges. For information
on assigning roles, see the VMware documentation.
book.book Page 21 Monday, March 14, 2011 2:40 PM