NISSERV(7P)                                                        NISSERV(7P)


NAME
     nisserv, ypserv - Network Information Services Protocol (Server)

SYNOPSIS
     /var/ns/lib/libns_nisserv.so

DESCRIPTION
     The Network Information Services Protocol (NIS) is a simple Sun RPC based
     protocol to fetch keyed data from a remote host.  It is typically used to
     distribute name service information in medium sized organizations.  The
     data is maintained on a single host (designated the NIS master), and is
     pushed occasionally to a list of slave servers.  Client systems
     dynamically locate a server and request data given a domain name, map
     name and key.  In Irix the daemon nsd(1M) acts as both the server and
     client side proxy for the protocol.  The server side is implemented in
     the nsd extension library nisserv(7P) while the client side and binding
     server are implemented in the nsd extension library nis(7P).  This manual
     page documents the behavior of the server side protocol library for the
     nsd daemon.  Applications which wish to make direct requests can still
     use the NIS API routines documented in ypclnt(3Y).

     The library /var/ns/lib/libns_nisserv.so is opened by the nsd(1M) daemon
     when nis is listed as the protocol for some map in a nsswitch.conf file.
     On first open the library initialization procedure sets up a port to
     handle YPSERV RPC requests.

     For each NIS DOMAIN for which you wish to act as a server the
     configuration file /var/ns/domains/DOMAIN/nsswitch.conf must exist, and
     for each map you want to serve in that domain, a line must exist of the
     form:
          hosts: nisserv
     The script ypinit(1M) will create the nsswitch.conf file for a domain and
     on a master will create all the database files by running mdbm_parse to
     read the local configuration files and parse them into mdbm(3B) hash
     files.  On a slave it will use ypxfr(1M) to copy the database files from
     the master.

     If the file /etc/securenets exists then only requests originating on one
     of these networks will be responded to.  See securenets(4) for more
     information on this file.

     Extended attributes in the nsswitch.conf file can be used to control the
     behavior of the NIS protocol.  Extended attributes are simply lists of
     key/value pairs attached to each object in the nsd filesystem.  The
     attributes supported in this library are:

     domain
          This is the domainname which is typically given as part of the
          request.  A request can be made to look into multiple different
          databases, or even forwarded to another remote name server like:
               hosts: nisserv(domain=engr) nisserv(domain=corp) nis(domain=mfg)


     table
          The table attribute is sent as part of the request.  This
          implementation includes a number of tables which were not in the
          original implementation. To include a local table a line must exist
          in the nsswitch.conf file for the table to specify the resolution
          order, and an mdbm file must exist in /var/ns/domains/DOMAIN/ for
          each table.

     key  This is passed in as part of the request and is used to fetch data
          out of the database file.

     nis_secure
          The nis_secure attribute is a boolean which specifies that data can
          only be sent to requests originating on a privileged port. In order
          to have the client send requests from a privileged port, this same
          attribute is required on the client (see nis(7P)).

ENABLING
     The NIS server functionality of nsd must be enabled via the chkconfig
     ypserv command.

NOTE
     The daemon nsd(1M) with this library now replaces the daemon ypserv from
     previous IRIX releases.  Similarly, nsd with the nis(7P) library replaces
     the daemon ypbind from previous releases.

FILES
     /etc/securenets
     /var/ns/domains/*/nsswitch.conf

SEE ALSO
     chkconfig(1M), nsd(1M), nsswitch.conf(4), nis(7P), securenets(4)
     IRIX Admin: Networking and Mail
     IRIX NIS Administration Guide


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