Feature Name
python-nss
Python Binding for NSS (Network Security Services)
Summary
Python bindings for NSS/NSPR allowing Python programs to utilize the NSS cryptographic libraries for SSL/TLS and PKI certificate management.
Owner
- Name: John Dennis
Current status
- Targeted release: [[Releases/Template:10 | Template:10 ]]
- Last updated: 7/9/2008
- Percentage of completion: 90%
Detailed Description
Network Security Services (NSS) is a set of libraries supporting security-enabled client and server applications. Applications built with NSS can support SSL v2 and v3, TLS, PKCS #5, PKCS #7, PKCS #11, PKCS #12, S/MIME, X.509 v3 certificates, and other security standards. NSS has received FIPS 140 validation from NIST. The python-nss feature provides a Python binding to NSS and the NSPR support libraries.
Benefit to Fedora
NSS is FIPS 140 validated making it a preferred network cryptographic library for SSL/TLS and PKI certificate management and provides an alternative to OpenSSL and GNU TLS. NSS is industrial strength having proved itself in the Netscape family of products in highly demanding environments supporting government and commercial services. Previously a programmer wishing to use NSS was limited to writing in C or C++. Fedora makes extensive use of the Python programming language and with the availability of python-nss Python based programs and libraries can now avail themselves of NSS.
Scope
The binding in it's initial state is complete. Since the binding is brand new it is anticipated early adopters of the binding will provide feedback which may cause some elements of the binding to be modified and/or expanded as the binding approaches maturity.
Test Plan
- No special hardware / data / etc. is needed, only a network connection.
- To prepare your system to test this feature
- yum install python-nss
- Actions to check that the feature is working like it's supposed to.
- Run the test script found in the documentation directory.
- What are the expected results of those actions?
- test succeeds
User Experience
This feature will not modify a user's experience, it is mostly invisible to a user.
Dependencies
The python-nss package is not depended on by any other package at the moment. There are no external dependencies which are not already resolved from prior Fedora releases.
Contingency Plan
A Contingency plan is not necessary, there are no dependencies on python-nss and the initial version of python-nss is complete and currently built in rawhide in preparation for F-10.
Documentation
The package includes extensive documentation which can be found online at:
http://people.redhat.com/jdennis/python-nss/doc/api/html/index.html
or locally after installation here:
file:///usr/share/doc/python-nss-0.0/api/html/index.html
There is also an example program in doc/examples. This is described in the introductory html documentation (in the nss package section of the documentation).
Release Notes
No release notes at this time.