Setting Up NIS Slave Servers

Your network can have one or more slave servers. Having slave servers ensures the continuity of NIS services when the master server is not available.

Preparing a Slave Server

Before actually running the ypinit command to create the slave servers, first make sure that the svc:/network/nis/domain service has been configured.

Note - NIS domain names are case-sensitive, although DNS domain names are not.

Make sure that the network is working properly before you configure an NIS slave server. In particular, make sure that you can use the sshd command to send files from the master NIS server to NIS slaves.

How to Set Up a Slave Server

The following procedure explains how to set up a slave server. Repeat this procedure for each machine you want configured as an NIS slave server.

Become an administrator.
For more information, see How to Obtain Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.
Edit the /etc/inet/hosts file.
Add the name and IP address of each of the other NIS servers. Use the following format: IPaddress FQDN-hostname aliases.
For example:
```
129.0.0.1    master.example.com master
129.0.0.2    slave1.example.com slave1
129.0.0.3    slave2.example.com slave2
```
Change directory to /var/yp on the slave server.
Note - You must first configure the new slave server as an NIS client so that it can obtain the NIS maps from the master server for the first time. See Administering NIS Clients for details.
Initialize the slave server as an NIS client.
```
# /usr/sbin/ypinit -c
```
The ypinit command prompts you for a list of NIS servers. Type the name of the local slave you are working on first, then type the name of the master server, followed by names of the other NIS slave servers in your domain. For the other slave servers, follow the order from the physically closest to the furthest in network terms.
Determine if the client services are running, then start or restart the services as needed.
```
# svcs \*nis\*
STATE          STIME     FMRI
online         20:32:56  svc:/network/nis/domain:default
online         20:32:56  svc:/network/nis/client:default
```
If the services are displayed with an online state, then NIS is running. If the service state is disabled, then NIS is not running.
1. If the client services are running, restart the client services.
```
# svcadm restart network/nis/domain
# svcadm restart network/nis/client
```
2. If the client services are not running, start the client services.
```
# svcadm enable network/nis/domain
# svcadm enable network/nis/client
```
Determine if the NIS master server is running, then start or restart the service as needed.
```
# svcs network/nis/server
STATE          STIME     FMRI
offline        20:32:56  svc:/network/nis/server:default
```
1. If the master NIS server is running, restart the service.
```
# svcadm restart network/nis/server
```
2. If the master NIS server is not running, start the service.
```
# svcadm enable network/nis/server
```
Initialize this machine as a slave server.
```
# /usr/sbin/ypinit -s master
```
where master is the machine name of the existing NIS master server.

How to Start NIS on a Slave Server

The following procedure explains how to start NIS on a slave server.

Become an administrator.
For more information, see How to Obtain Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.

Restart the client service and start all NIS server processes.

# svcadm restart network/nis/domain
# svcadm restart network/nis/client
# svcadm enable network/nis/server

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