DESCRIPTION
The NIS network information service uses a distributed, replicated database of
dbm files , in ASCII form, that are contained in the
/var/yp directory hierarchy on each NIS server.
A
dbm database served by the NIS server is called a NIS
map. A NIS
domain is a subdirectory of
/var/yp that contains a set of NIS maps on each NIS server.
Standard nicknames are defined in the file
/var/yp/nicknames. These names can be used in place of the full map name in the
ypmatch and
ypcat commands. Use the command
ypwhich -x to display the current set of nicknames. Use the command
ypwhich -m to display all the available maps. Each line of the nickname file contains two fields separated by white space. The first field is the nickname, and the second field is the name of the map that it expands to. The nickname cannot contain a ".".
NIS to LDAP (N2L)
If the
/var/yp/NISLDAPmapping configuration file is present, the NIS server operates in NIS to LDAP (N2L) mode. In this mode, NIS maps are stored in a new set of DBM files, prepended by the
LDAP_ prefix, at
/var/yp/domainname. These files are used as a cache backed by information from an LDAP server. Additional DBM files are created in the same directory to hold the cache's TTL values.
N2L mode enables NIS clients to be supported in an LDAP environment.
In N2L mode, the old style DBM files, NIS source files, and the
ypmake(1M) utility have to role. They are retained to enable easy conversion back to the traditional mode, if required.
Converting from N2L to Traditional NIS
When NIS is operating in N2L mode, it uses a new set of NIS maps with an
LDAP_ prefix, based on the contents of the LDAP DIT. The NIS source files are unused and become out of date. If you wish to convert back to the traditional NIS mode, the N2L configuration file should be deleted. The system will then return to using the standard map files. Optionally, the N2L mode map files,
/var/yp/*/LDAP_* can also be deleted.
If you want to run the system in traditional mode with information based on the DIT, then the NIS source files must be regenerated based on the N2L maps. To regenerate the NIS source files based on the N2L maps, run
ypmap2src(1M).
FILES
/var/yp
Directory containing NIS configuration files.
/var/yp/binding
Stores the information required to bind the NIS client to the NIS server.
/var/yp/binding/ypdomain/ypservers
Contains the servers to which the NIS client is allowed to bind.
/var/yp/Makefile
Builds the NIS ndbm databases.
/var/yp/nicknames
Nicknames file.
/var/yp/securenets
Defines the hosts and networks that are granted access to information in the served domain. This file is read at startup time by ypserv and ypxfrd.
/var/yp/ypdomain
Directory containing ndbm databases.
/var/yp/NISLDAPmapping
NIS to LDAP configuration file
/var/yp/*/LDAP_*
NIS to LDAP mode map files