Macintosh Development

Table of contents

• Displaying the Kerberos Floating Window
• Using the Kerberos Floating Window
  • About the Kerberos Floating Window
  • Kerberos Floating Window Commands
  • Kerberos Floating Window Contextual Menu
• Changing Floating Window Options

If you encounter bugs or problems using the Kerberos Floating Window, please send e-mail to <krbdev@mit.edu>.

Displaying the Kerberos Floating Window

If the Kerberos Floating Window is not currently displayed, you can display it using one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the Kerberos control panel.

1. From the Apple menu, choose Control Panels--Kerberos .

Result: The Kerberos control panel window is displayed.

2. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.

Result: The Kerberos Preferences dialog is displayed.

3. Click on the Floating Window tab.

Result: The floating window options panel of the Preferences is displayed.

4. Turn the "Show floating window" checkbox on. (See Changing Floating Window Options for explanation of all the other floating window options.)
5. Click on "OK" to save your new preferences.

Result: The floating window should now be displayed.

Method 2: Tear off the Kerberos Menu's menu.

If you have the Kerberos Menu installed:

1. Click and hold down on the Kerberos Menu icon.

   Result: the Kerberos Menu's menu items are displayed.

2. Drag the mouse down past the bottom of the menu (you must drag past the bottom, not the sides, of the menu).

   Result: An outline of a rectangle is displayed.

3. Drag the outlined rectangle to the desired position of the Kerberos Floating Window, and let go of the mouse button.

   Result: The Kerberos Floating Window is displayed.

Method 3: Tear off the Kerberos Control Strip's menu.

If you have the Kerberos Control Strip installed:

1. Open the control strip.
2. Click and hold down on the Kerberos Control Strip module's icon.

   Result: the Kerberos Control Strip's menu items are displayed.

3. Drag the mouse down past the top or bottom of the menu.

   Result: An outline of a rectangle is displayed.

4. Drag the outlined rectangle to the desired position of the Kerberos Floating Window, and let go of the mouse button.

   Result: The Kerberos Floating Window is displayed.

Using the Kerberos Floating Window

About the Kerberos Floating Window

The Kerberos Floating Window has several different states, as described below.

Compact (single user)

This is the default state of the floating window when it is first displayed. The principal of the authenticated user is displayed in abbreviated format (the realm is omitted for principals in the default realm), along with a miniature "pie chart" displaying the relative amount of time remaining in the user's tickets.

Compact (two users)

If more than one user is authenticated, the floating window displays each user's principal in a separate button with its own pie chart. The current active user's button is darker grey than the rest of the buttons.

Expanded (single user)

Clicking on the floating window's zoom box, or turning on the "Show commands in floating window" preference in the Kerberos control panel, changes the floating window to the "expanded" state. The buttons for each user now display the full principal, including the realm. In addition to the buttons for each user, three command buttons for the most common Kerberos operations are available.

Expanded (no users)

If there are no authenticated users and the floating window is in the expanded state, only the three command buttons are displayed. "Destroy tickets" and "Renew tickets" are disabled because there are no principals.

Tickets nearing expiration

When a user's tickets are nearing expiration (less than 5 minutes lifetime remaining), the pie chart for that user is displayed in red.

Tickets expired

When a user's tickets have expired, the pie chart is empty and the user's principal is displayed in italics. (Due to the limited granularity of the pie charts, the pie chart may appear empty even though the tickets are not expired for tickets with long lifetimes. The state of the username is a definitive indication of expired tickets.)

Kerberos Floating Window Commands

You can perform the following actions with the Kerberos Floating Window:

Change the active user - click on the user's button to make that user the active user. That user's button will turn darker grey to indicate that they are the new active user. (The active user specifies which principal will be used for authentication when you work with an application that requires Kerberos authentication.)

Get Tickets - Clicking on the "Get Tickets..." button in the floating window brings up the Login dialog, allowing you to get tickets for a new user (or new tickets for an existing user).

Destroy Tickets - Clicking on the "Destroy Tickets" button will destroy the tickets of the current active user.

Renew Tickets - Clicking on the "Renew Tickets..." button will renew the tickets of the current active user.

Hide the Floating Window - Click on the close box (if it exists, see Changing Floating Window Options below). The floating window will not be shown again until you explicitly re-display it using one of the methods described in Displaying the Kerberos Floating Window. IMPORTANT NOTE: Unlike the floating window in old versions of KClient, closing the Kerberos Floating Window does not destroy any tickets, it simply hides the floating window.

Expand/compact the Floating Window - Click on the zoom box to switch the floating window between expanded and compact states.

Kerberos Floating Window Contextual Menu

Kerberos Floating Window contextual menu

If you control-click on any user's button, a contextual menu of commands will be displayed. Move the cursor to the command you wish to execute.

With the contextual menu, the destroy and renew tickets commands apply to the user you control-clicked on, not the active user, so by using the contextual menu you can destroy or renew any user's tickets.

Changing Floating Window options

You can customize the Kerberos Floating Window by using the Preferences command in the Kerberos control panel.

1. From the Apple menu, choose Control Panels--Kerberos .

Result: The Kerberos control panel window is displayed.

2. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.

Result: The Preferences dialog is displayed.

3. Click on the Floating Window tab.

Result: The Floating Window options panel of the Preferences is displayed.

4. Make changes to any of the following:
   • Show floating window (default = off): If this box is checked, the Kerberos Floating Window is displayed.
   • Floating window can be closed (default = on): If this box is checked, the Kerberos Floating Window has a close box and can be closed. If unchecked, the floating window does not have a close box and is always displayed unless "show floating window" is off, or there are no authenticated users. Note that unlike in old versions of KClient, closing the floating window does not destroy any tickets, it simply hides the floating window.
   • Show commands in floating window (default = off): Switches the floating window between compact and expanded states (see above). You can also switch between the compact and expanded states of the floating window by clicking on the zoom box in the floating window's title bar.
   • Show remaining lifetime "pie" in floating window (default = on): If this box is checked, a small "pie chart" indicating the relative amount of time remaining until the user's tickets expire is displayed next to each authenticated user's name.

 

5. Click on OK to save the changes you've made.

Result: Your changes are reflected in the state of the floating window.