Chapter 19. javax.security.auth and Subpackages
This
chapter documents the
javax.security.auth package and its subpackages,
which, together, form the Java
Authentication and Authorization Service, or JAAS. Before being
integrated into Java 1.4, JAAS was available as a standard extension,
which is why these packages have the
“javax” prefix. The individual
packages are the following:
-
javax.security.auth This top-level package defines the
Subjectclass that is central to JAAS.-
javax.security.auth.callback This package defines a callback API to enable communication (such as the exchange of a username and password) between a low-level login module and the end-user.
-
javax.security.auth.kerberos This package contains JAAS classes related to the Kerberos network authentication protocol.
-
javax.security.auth.login This package defines the
LoginContextclass and related classes used by applications to perform a JAAS login.-
javax.security.auth.spi This package defines the “service provider interface” for JAAS.
-
javax.security.auth.x500 This package includes JAAS classes related to X.500 principals.