Authen::SASL - SASL Authentication framework

 use Authen::SASL;

 $sasl = Authen::SASL->new(
   mechanism => 'CRAM-MD5 PLAIN ANONYMOUS',
   callback => {
     pass => \&fetch_password,
     user => $user,
   }
 );

SASL is a generic mechanism for authentication used by several network protocols. Authen::SASL provides an implementation framework that all protocols should be able to share.

The framework allows different implementations of the connection class to be plugged in. At the time of writing there were two such plugins.

Authen::SASL::Perl

This module implements several mechanisms and is implemented entirely in Perl.

Authen::SASL::Cyrus

This module uses the Cyrus SASL C-library (both version 1 and 2 are supported).

By default the order in which these plugins are selected is Authen::SASL::Cyrus first and then Authen::SASL::Perl.

If you want to change it or want to specifically use one implementation only simply do

 use Authen::SASL qw(Perl);

or if you have another plugin module that supports the Authen::SASL API

 use Authen::SASL qw(My::SASL::Plugin);

The contructor may be called with or without arguments. Passing arguments is just a short cut to calling the CWmechanism and CWcallback methods.

mechanism

Returns the current list of mechanisms

mechanism NAMES

Set the list of mechanisms to choose from. NAMES should be a space separated string of the names.

callback NAME

Returns the current callback associated with NAME

callback NAME => VALUE, NAME => VALUE, ...

Sets the given callbacks to the given values

client_new SERVICE, HOST, SECURITY

Creates and returns a new connection object for a client-side connection.

server_new SERVICE, HOST

Creates and returns a new connection object for a server-side connection. Currently only supported by Authen::SASL::Cyrus.

server_start ( CHALLENGE )

server_start begins the authentication using the chosen mechanism. If the mechanism is not supported by the installed SASL it fails. Because for some mechanisms the client has to start the negotiation, you can give the client challenge as a parameter.

server_step ( CHALLENGE )

server_step performs the next step in the negotiation process. The first parameter you give is the clients challenge/response.

client_start

The initial step to be performed. Returns the initial value to pass to the server or an empty list on error.

client_step CHALLENGE

This method is called when a response from the server requires it. CHALLENGE is the value from the server. Returns the next value to pass to the server or an empty list on error.

property NAME

property NAME => VALUE, NAME => VALUE

service

Returns the service argument that was passed to *_new-methods.

host

Returns the host argument that was passed to *_new-methods.

mechanism

Returns the name of the chosen mechanism.

There are three different ways in which a callback may be passed

CODEREF

If the value passed is a code reference then, when needed, it will be called and the connection object will be passed as the first argument.

ARRAYREF

If the value passed is an array reference, the first element in the array must be a code reference. When the callback is called the code reference will be called with the connection object passed as the first argument and all other values from the array passed after.

SCALAR

All other values passed will be used directly. ie it is the same as passing an code reference that, when called, returns the value.

Authen::SASL::Perl, Authen::SASL::Cyrus (for more methods that currently only support by Authen::SASL::Cyrus)

Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>

Please report any bugs, or post any suggestions, to the perl-ldap mailing list <perl-ldap-dev@lists.sourceforge.net>

Copyright (c) 1998-2004 Graham Barr. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.