ypxfr(1M)                                                            ypxfr(1M)


NAME
     ypxfr - transfer an NIS map from some NIS server to here

SYNOPSIS
     ypxfr [ -f ] [ -h host ] [ -d domain ] [ -c ] [ -C tid prog ipadd port ]
          mapname

DESCRIPTION
     ypxfr moves a network information service (NIS) map to the local host by
     making use of normal NIS services.  It creates a temporary map in the
     directory /var/ns/domain/domain (which must already exist), fills it by
     enumerating the map's entries, fetches the map parameters (master and
     order number) and loads them.  It then deletes any old versions of the
     map and moves the temporary map to the real mapname.

     If ypxfr is run interactively, it writes its output to the terminal.
     However, if it is invoked without a controlling terminal, and if the log
     file /var/yp/ypxfr.log exists, it appends all its output to that file.
     Since ypxfr is run from /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/root, or by ypserv, you
     can use the log file to retain a record of what was attempted and what
     the results were.

     For consistency between servers, ypxfr should be run periodically for
     every map in the NIS data base.  Different maps change at different
     rates:  the services.byname map may not change for months at a time, for
     instance, and may therefore be checked only once a day in the wee hours.
     You may know that mail.aliases or hosts.byname changes several times per
     day.  In such a case, you may want to check hourly for updates.  A
     crontab entry can be used to perform periodic updates automatically (see
     cron(1M)).  Rather than having a separate crontab entry for each map, you
     can group commands to update several maps in a shell script.  Examples
     are in /var/yp:  ypxfr_1pd.sh (transfer once per day), ypxfr_2pd.sh
     (transfer twice per day), and ypxfr_1phr.sh (transfer once per hour).
     They can serve as reasonable first cuts.

     Refer to ypfiles(4) and ypserv(1M) for an overview of NIS.

OPTIONS
     -f        Force the transfer to occur even if the version at the master
               is not more recent than the local version.

     -c        Don't send a "Clear current map" request to the local ypserv
               process.  Use this flag if ypserv is not running locally at the
               time you are running ypxfr.  Otherwise, ypxfr complains that it
               can't talk to the local ypserv, and the transfer fails.

     -h host   Get the map from host, regardless of what the map says the
               master is.  If host is not specified, ypxfr asks the NIS
               service for the name of the master, and tries to get the map
               from there.  host may be a name or an Internet address in the
               form a.b.c.d (see inet(3N)).


     -d domain Specify a domain other than the default domain.

     -C tid prog ipadd port
               This option is only for use by ypserv.  When ypserv invokes
               ypxfr, it specifies that ypxfr should call back a yppush
               process at the host with Internet address ipaddr, registered as
               program number prog, listening on port port, and waiting for a
               response to transaction tid.

FILES
     /var/yp/ypxfr.log
     /var/yp/ypxfr_1pd.sh
     /var/yp/ypxfr_2pd.sh
     /var/yp/ypxfr_1ph.sh
     /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/root

SEE ALSO
     yppush(1M), ypserv(1M), ypfiles(4).


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