The nisdefaults command displays the seven default values currently active in the namespace. These default values are either
Preset values supplied by the NIS+ software
The defaults specified in the NIS_DEFAULTS
environment variable (if you have NIS_DEFAULTS values set)
Any object that you create on this machine will automatically acquire these default values unless you override them with the -D option of the command you are using to create the object.
Table 9-12 The Seven NIS+ Default Values and nisdefaults Options| Default | Option | From | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain | -d | /etc/defaultdomain | Displays the home domain of the workstation from which the command was entered. | 
| Group | -g | 
 | Displays the group that would be assigned to the next object created from this shell. | 
| Host | -h | uname -n | Displays the workstation's host name. | 
| Principal | -p | gethostbyname() | Displays the fully qualified user name or host name of the NIS+ principal who entered the nisdefaults command. | 
| Access Rights | -r | 
 | Displays the access rights that will be assigned to the next object or entry created from this shell. Format: ----rmcdr---r--- | 
| Search path | -s | 
 | Displays the syntax of the
search path, which indicate the domains that NIS+ will search through when looking for information. Displays
the value of the  | 
| Time-to-live | -t | 
 | Displays the time-to-live that will be assigned to the next object created from this shell. The default is 12 hours. | 
| All (terse) | -a | 
 | Displays all seven defaults in terse format. | 
| Verbose | -v | Display specified values in verbose mode. | 
You can use these options to display all default values or any subset of them:
| master% nisdefaults Principal Name : topadmin.doc.com. Domain Name : doc.com. Host Name : rootmaster.doc.com. Group Name : salesboss Access Rights : ----rmcdr---r--- Time to live : 12:00:00:00:00 Search Path : doc.com. | 
To display all values in terse format, add the -a option.
To display a subset of the values, use the appropriate options. The values are displayed in terse mode. For example, to display the rights and search path defaults in terse mode, type:
| rootmaster% nisdefaults -rs ----rmcdr---r--- doc.com. | 
To display a subset of the values in verbose mode, add the -v flag.