Authen::SASL(3)

NAME
Authen::SASL - SASL Authentication framework

SYNOPSIS
 use Authen::SASL;

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

DESCRIPTION
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).

  CONTRUCTOR
The contructor may be called with or without arguments. Passing arguments is just a short cut to calling the "mechanism" and "callback" methods.

  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.

The Connection Class

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.

  Callbacks
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.

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

AUTHOR
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
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.