Because in-kernel RPC routines use non-string values for mechanism and Quality of Protection (QOP), these routines exist to map strings for these attributes to their non-string counterparts. (The non-string values for QOP and mechanism are also found in the /etc/gss/qop and /etc/gss/mech files, respectively.) rpc_gss_mech_to_oid() takes a string representing a mechanism, as well as a pointer to a rpc_gss_OID object identifier structure. It then gives this structure values corresponding to the indicated mechanism, so that the application can now use the OID directly with RPC routines. rpc_gss_qop_to_num() does much the same thing, taking strings for QOP and mechanism and returning a number.

Information on RPCSEC_GSS data types for parameters may be found on the rpcsec_gss(3NSL) man page.

mech

An ASCII string representing the security mechanism in use. Valid strings may be found in the /etc/gss/mech file.

oid

An object identifier of type rpc_gss_OID, whose elements are usable by kernel-level RPC routines.

qop

This is an ASCII string which sets the quality of protection (QOP) for the session. Appropriate values for this string may be found in the file /etc/gss/qop.

num

The non-string value for the QOP.

Both functions return TRUE if they are successful, FALSE otherwise.

/etc/gss/mech

File containing valid security mechanisms

/etc/gss/qop

File containing valid QOP values

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ATTRIBUTE TYPE	ATTRIBUTE VALUE
MT-Level	MT-Safe
Availability	SUNWrsg (32-bit)
	SUNWrsgx (64-bit)

rpc(3NSL), rpc_gss_get_error(3NSL), rpc_gss_get_mechanisms(3NSL), rpcsec_gss(3NSL), mech(4), qop(4), attributes(5)

ONC+ Developer's Guide

Linn, J. RFC 2078, Generic Security Service Application Program Interface, Version 2. Network Working Group. January 1997.