<html> <head> <title>Network Identity Manager Concepts</title> <meta name="description" content="NetIDMgr Concepts"> <meta name="keywords" content="concepts"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="nidmgr.css"> </head> <body> <h1>Network Identity Manager Concepts</h1> <p>The Network Identity Manager (NetIDMgr) organizes and manages credentials based on how they identify the user to network services. To this end, it is assumed that each <a href="concept_credential.htm">credential </a>will uniquely identify the user to a service as a single <a href="concept_identity.htm">identity</a>. When using Kerberos v5 the identity is the Kerberos principal name. </p> <p>At it's core, NetIDMgr does not possess any knowledge about specific credentials that might be available to the user or how to manage them. It relies on several types of plug-ins to provide the information it needs, and to carry out credentials management tasks. One primary task is to identify and manage identities. These services are provided by a plug-in called the <a href="concept_ident_pro.htm">identity provider</a>. Information about individual credentials are provided by <a href="concept_cred_pro.htm">credential providers</a>. Other plug-ins may extend the functionality of these plug-ins or provide additional functionality for NetIDMgr. </p> <p> </p> <p>The following topics provider further details: </p> <ul> <li><a href="concept_identity.htm">Identity</a></li> <li><a href="concept_ident_pro.htm">Identity Provider</a></li> <li><a href="concept_cred_pro.htm">Credentials Provider</a></li> <li><a href="concept_credential.htm">Credential</a></li> </ul> </body> </html>