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What is a Kerberos Principal?

A Kerberos principal is a unique identity to which Kerberos can assign tickets. Principals can have an arbitrary number of components. Each component is separated by a component separator, generally `/'. The last component is the realm, separated from the rest of the principal by the realm separator, generally `@'. If there is no realm component in the principal, then it will be assumed that the principal is in the default realm for the context in which it is being used.

Traditionally, a principal is divided into three parts: the primary, the instance, and the realm. The format of a typical Kerberos V5 principal is primary/instance@REALM.