Using NIS in Conjunction With DNS

Typically, NIS clients are configured with the nsswitch.conf file to use only NIS for machine name and address lookups. If this type of lookup fails, an NIS server can forward these lookups to DNS.

How to Configure Machine Name and Address Lookup Through NIS and DNS

1. Become superuser or assume an equivalent role.

   Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Chapter 9, Using Role-Based Access Control (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

2. The two map files, hosts.byname and hosts.byaddr must include the YP_INTERDOMAIN key. To test this key, edit the Makefile and modify the following lines.

   #B=-b
   B=

   to

   B=-b
   #B=

   makedbm will now start with the -b flag when it makes the maps, and the YP_INTERDOMAIN key will be inserted into the ndbm files.

3. Run the make command to rebuild maps.

   # /usr/ccs/bin/make hosts

4. Check that all the NIS server's /etc/resolv.conf files point to valid nameservers.

   ---

   Note - If you have NIS servers that are not running Solaris, Release 2, make sure YP_INTERDOMAIN exists in the hosts maps.

   ---

5. To enable DNS forwarding, restart each server.

   # svcadm restart network/nis/server:<instance>

   In this implementation of NIS, ypserv automatically starts with the -d option to forward requests to DNS.

Dealing with Mixed NIS Domains

If the master and slave servers are not both running Solaris 2, refer to the following table for how to avoid potential problems. The notation “4.0.3+” refers to that and later releases of the Solaris OS. makedm -b is a reference to the “B” variable in the Makefile.

Table 6-1 NIS/DNS in Heterogeneous NIS Domains