KfM and KfW both support the ability to display kinit dialogs automatically under several circumstances: * kclient api GetTicketGrantingTicket() when no tgt present * krb4 krb_mk_req() call with service == "krbtgt" and no tgt present * gssapi clients calling acquire_init_cred() * krb5 clients calling krb5_fwd_tgt_creds() or krb5_sendauth() However, there is a class of krb5 clients (such as sidecar, rcmd, telnet) which all perform calls to krb5_cc_get_principal() prior to a krb5_get_credentials() call. The krb5_cc_get_principal() call is used to set the client portion of the krb5_creds structure which is used to specify which credentials krb5_get_credentials() should obtain. In the case where there is no ccache or no credentials in the ccache, krb5_cc_get_principal() returns an error which in turn prevents calls krb5_get_credentials, krb5_mk_req, or krb5_sendauth from being made. krb5_cc_get_principal() looks like it would be a nice place to place a hook for a kinit dialog until you realize that krb5_cc_get_principal() is called at many times throughout the krb5 library for which we would certainly not desire a kinit dialog to appear. At the current time this is a limitation of what we can acheive. I do not have a suggestion of how to address this limitation, but if we have time the team should attempt to address it.