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System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (NIS+)
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Document Information

Preface

Part I About Naming and Directory Services

1.  Name Service Switch

Part II NIS+ Setup and Configuration

2.  NIS+: An Introduction

About NIS+

What NIS+ Can Do for You

How NIS+ Differs From NIS

NIS+ Security

Solaris 1 Release and NIS-Compatibility Mode

NIS+ Administration Commands

NIS+ API

NIS+ Setup and Configuration Preparation

NIS and NIS+

NIS+ Files and Directories

Structure of the NIS+ Namespace

NIS+ Namespace Directories

NIS+ Domains

NIS+ Servers

How NIS+ Servers Propagate Changes

NIS+ Clients and Principals

NIS+ Principal

NIS+ Client

NIS+ Cold-Start File and Directory Cache

An NIS+ Server Is Also a Client

NIS+ Naming Conventions

NIS+ Domain Names

NIS+ Directory Object Names

NIS+ Tables and Group Names

NIS+ Table Entry Names

NIS+ Host Names

NIS+ Principal Names

Accepted Name Symbols in NIS+

NIS+ Name Expansion

NIS+ NIS_PATH Environment Variable

Preparing the Existing Namespace for NIS+

Two NIS+ Configuration Methods

3.  NIS+ Setup Scripts

4.  Configuring NIS+ With Scripts

5.  Setting Up the NIS+ Root Domain

6.  Configuring NIS+ Clients

7.  Configuring NIS+ Servers

8.  Configuring an NIS+ Non-Root Domain

9.  Setting Up NIS+ Tables

Part III NIS+ Administration

10.  NIS+ Tables and Information

11.  NIS+ Security Overview

12.  Administering NIS+ Credentials

13.  Administering NIS+ Keys

14.  Administering Enhanced NIS+ Security Credentials

15.  Administering NIS+ Access Rights

16.  Administering NIS+ Passwords

17.  Administering NIS+ Groups

18.  Administering NIS+ Directories

19.  Administering NIS+ Tables

20.  NIS+ Server Use Customization

21.  NIS+ Backup and Restore

22.  Removing NIS+

23.  Information in NIS+ Tables

24.  NIS+ Troubleshooting

A.  NIS+ Error Messages

About NIS+ Error Messages

Common NIS+ Namespace Error Messages

B.  Updates to NIS+ During the Solaris 10 Release

Solaris 10 and NIS+

Glossary

Index

NIS+ NIS_PATH Environment Variable

You can change or augment the list of directories NIS+ searches through by changing the value of the environment variable NIS_PATH. NIS_PATH accepts a list of directory names separated by colons:

setenv NIS_PATH directory1: directory2: directory3 ...

or

NIS_PATH=directory1: directory2: directory3 ...;export NIS_PATH

NIS+ searches through these directories from left to right. For example:

Diagram shows expansion of mydir and hosts.org_dir into respective FQDNs

Like $PATH and $MANPATH, the NIS_PATH variable accepts the special symbol, $. You can append the $ symbol to a directory name or add it by itself. If you append it to a directory name, NIS+ appends the default directory to that name. For example:

Diagram shows NIS_PATH for sales.doc, manf.doc and doc.com directories

If you use the $ sign by itself (for example, org_dir.$:$), NIS+ performs the standard name expansion described earlier: it starts looking in the default directory and proceeds through the parent directories. In other words, the default value of NIS_PATH is $.


Note - Keep in mind that additions and changes to your NIS_PATH may increase the number of lookups that NIS+ has to perform and thus slow down performance.