=============================
Authentication in directories
=============================

:Revision: $Id: authentication.txt 30361 2005-12-06 21:17:25Z dkuhlman $

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Authentication
==============

A directory that supports it may be used for authentication.
Authentication means several things:

- Checking that an entry has a correct password associated to it.

- Changing the password for an entry.


ZODB Directory
--------------

In the ZODB Directory, if a password field is specified, then the
directory will be used for authentication using this field.

Changing the password is currently done by modifying the entry
directly.

LDAP Backing Directory
----------------------

If a password field is specified, then an LDAP bind will be used
to check the entry's password when authentication is required.

Changing the password is currently done by modifying the entry
directly. In the future it will be done by a special API that will
use the specified password field (only "userPassword" makes sense
for OpenLDAP).
