User's Manual

52 Chapter 3:Installing Red Hat Linux
Figure 3–15 Authentication Configuration
• Enable MD5 passwords — allows a long password to be used (up to 256 characters), instead of
the standard eight letters or less.
•
Enable shadow passwords — provides a secure method for retaining passwords. The passwords
are stored in /etc/shadow, which can only be read by root.
•
Enable NIS — allows you to run a group of computers in the same Network Information Service
domain with a common password and group file. You can choose from the following two options:
–
NIS Domain — allows you to specify the domain or group of computers your system belongs
to.
–
Use broadcast to find NIS server — allows you to broadcast a message to your local area
network to find an available NIS server.
–
NIS Server — causes your computer to use a specific NIS server, rather than broadcasting a
message to the local area network asking for any available server to host your system.
•
Enable LDAP — tells your computer to use LDAP for some or all authentication. LDAP consol-
idates certain types of information within your organization. For example, all of the different lists
of users within your organization can be merged into one LDAP directory. For more information