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Subject: KDC status strings - format inconsistency
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KDC status string carries an additional information about the state of
AS/TGS exchange and is useful in conjunction with the actual error
reported by KDC. (There are few exceptions when the status says "ISSUE"
or "REFERRAL" which are not the errors.)
One should notice that these strings are inconsistent in their format
and statement. For example, FINDING_SERVER_KEY and CANT_FIND_CLIENT_KEY
are both reported on error when key cannot be found but only the latter
states this. The status strings use delimiters such as underscores and
white-spaces sporadically: for example, "CLIENT EXPIRED" vs
"TKT_EXPIRED". Finally, such variations as"Anonymous requested but
anonymous principal not used." and "constructing state" bring even more
variety to the status strings formats.
It would be useful to come up with the common rules for KDC status
strings. For example, use all upper case letters with underscores as
delimiters. Since in most of the cases the status is set on error it
might be redundant to state the failure in the status
("RANDOM_KEY_FAILED" or ADD_TR_FAIL" or "CAN'T_PROXY_TGT"). Use
abbreviations instead of proper English words only when it is justified
by commonly accepted Kerberos terminology. Finally, one should consider
making the messages more concise.