Kerberos

The Apple Mac OS X “Tickets Viewer” app (also called Ticket Viewer) is a utility included in macOS that allows you to view and manage Kerberos authentication tickets.

What is a Kerberos Ticket?

Kerberos is a network authentication protocol used in enterprise environments, especially in Active Directory (AD) and MIT Kerberos setups.

When you log in to a Kerberos-enabled system, the authentication server grants you a Kerberos ticket that allows you to access services (e.g., file shares, email, or databases) without entering your credentials repeatedly.

What Can You Do with Ticket Viewer?

• View Active Kerberos Tickets
  • See all currently active Kerberos authentication tickets on your Mac.
  • Check ticket expiration times and details.
• Manually Renew or Destroy Tickets
  • Renew tickets before they expire (if renewable).
• Destroy (remove) tickets to force re-authentication.
• Authenticate with a Kerberos Realm
  • Manually obtain a ticket by logging into a Kerberos realm (useful if your Mac is part of an AD or Kerberos environment).
• Troubleshoot Authentication Issues
  • If you have trouble accessing network resources that use Kerberos authentication, you can check if your ticket is missing or expired.

How to Open Ticket Viewer?

• Method 1: Use Spotlight (Cmd + Space), type Ticket Viewer, and press Enter.
• Method 2: Open System Settings → Users & Groups → Network Account Server → Open Ticket Viewer.

When Would You Use Ticket Viewer?

• If you are part of a corporate or university network that uses Kerberos authentication.
• When troubleshooting Active Directory login issues on macOS.
• If you need to manually renew or destroy tickets for security or debugging purposes.
• If you’re not connected to a Kerberos environment, you likely won’t need to use Ticket Viewer.