Ensuring Compatibility With +/- Syntax

If +/- is used in /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, and /etc/group files, you need to modify the nsswitch.conf file to insure compatibility.

NIS. To provide the same syntax as in the Solaris 4.x release, change the passwd and groups sources to compat.

passwd: compat
group: compat

Specifies the /etc files and NIS maps as indicated by the +/- entries in the files.