Source Files Directory

The source files may be located either in the /etc directory on the master server or in some other directory. Having them in /etc might be undesirable because the contents of the maps are then the same as the contents of the local files on the master server. This is a special problem for passwd and shadow files, because all users would have access to the master server maps and the root password would be passed to all YP clients through the passwd map. (See "Passwd Files and Namespace Security" for additional information on this subject).

However, if you choose to locate the source files in some other directory, you must modify the Makefile in /var/yp by changing the DIR=/etc line to DIR=/your-choice, where your-choice is the name of the directory you will be using to store the source files. This allows you to treat the local files on the server as if they were those of a client. (It is good practice to first save a copy of the original makefile.)