How to Create the Kerberos database

Create the database with the following command.

 [root@coma ~] kdb5_util create -s

This will prompt you for a password. You will only have to enter this password when you initially configure a slave KDC, so choose something large and random and store it in a secure place. Really, you may only have to enter this once more, so make it secure.

Add the first Administrative User

I do administration as root, so the first user I add is root/admin. The default realm is appended automatically, so the command to use is as follows.
 [root@coma ~] kadmin.local -q "addprinc root/admin"
Enter a password when prompted. You will need this password every time you administer the database.

Starting the Services

At this point it is necessary to enable and start the kerberos services.

 [root@coma ~] chkconfig kadmin on
 [root@coma ~] service kadmin start
 [root@coma ~] chkconfig krb5kdc on
 [root@coma ~] service krb5kdc start

To test if everything is working, run kadmin. By default, the current user appended with ‘/admin’ is used as the principle.
 [root@coma ~] kadmin
 Authenticating as principal root/admin@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH with password.
 Password for root/admin@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH:
 kadmin:  listprincs
 K/M@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH
 kadmin/admin@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH
 kadmin/changepw@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH
 kadmin/history@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH
 krbtgt/PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH
 root/admin@PHYSIK.UNIZH.CH
The additional principles have been created by the tool. They are required so leave them be.

Create a Host Principal for the KDC

Now you will want to create a host principal for the KDC. This is required for replication (see below). You also need to add this principal to the local key table.
 [root@coma ~]# kadmin
 Authenticating as principal root/admin@EXAMPLE.COM with password.
 Password for root/admin@EXAMPLE.COM:
 kadmin: addprinc -randkey host/coma.EXAMPLE.COM
 NOTICE: no policy specified for host/coma.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM; assigning "default"
 Principal "host/coma.example.com@EXAMPLE.COM" created.
 kadmin: ktadd host/coma.example.com

Setup the default Policy

You will want to create the default password policy at this point. All new accounts will have this policy enforced.
 [root@coma ~] kadmin
 Authenticating as principal root/admin@ EXAMPLE.COM with password.
 Password for root/admin@ EXAMPLE.COM:
 kadmin: add_policy -maxlife 180days -minlife 2days -minlength 8 -minclasses 3 -history 10 default
You can also add other policies and apply different policies to different principles. The different flags and their meaning are as follows.

Flag	Description
-maxlife	The is the maximum period before the password must be changed.
-minlife	This is the minimum time after a password change before it can be changed again. Without a minimum time, users can change their password multiple times and overflow the history (see below) and end up back with the same password.
-minclasses	This is the number of distinct character classes that must appear in the password. Character classes are uppercase letters, lowercase letters, number and symbols. Setting this to 2 for example would mean a password with at least one lowercase letter and a number would be valid.
-history	This is the number of previous passwords to keep. A password may not duplicate a prior password.

Changing the Maximum Renewal Time

Each principal has its own maximum renewal life. On RHEL4, new principals are created with a maximum renewal time of zero. This means you can get a renewable ticket, but they can never be renewed. Each principal must be manually changed to the desired maximum renewal time. In addition, the special principal krbtgt/REALM@REALM must be changed to reflect the maximum renewal time that any principal will have.
 [root@coma ~]# kadmin
 Authenticating as principal root/admin@ EXAMPLE.COM with password.
 Password for root/admin@ EXAMPLE.COM:
 kadmin:  modprinc -maxrenewlife 2weeks krbtgt/ EXAMPLE.COM @ EXAMPLE.COM
 Principal "krbtgt/ EXAMPLE.COM @ EXAMPLE.COM " modified.

Adding Principals

 [root@coma ~] kadmin
 uthenticating as principal root/admin@ EXAMPLE.COM with password.
 Password for root/admin@ EXAMPLE.COM:
 kadmin: addprinc -maxrenewlife 7days doug
The various options allow you to tune your password policy.