Gauge the Impact of NIS+ on Other Systems

Develop a formal introduction, testing, and familiarization program for your site, not only to train administrators, but also to uncover dependencies of other systems or applications on NIS that will be affected by a transition to NIS+.

For example, some applications may rely on some of the NIS maps. Will they function with standard or custom NIS+ tables? How will their need for access affect your overall security plan?

What nonstandard NIS maps are being used at your site? Can you convert them to NIS+ tables or create nonstandard NIS+ tables to store their information? Be sure to check their access rights.

Does your site use locally built applications that depend on NIS? Do you have commands or applications that make direct NIS calls, such as embedded yp_match() function calls? (See "NIS and NIS+ API Function Equivalents" for more information.)

Do you have any duplicate user and host names in your namespace? (See "Resolving User/Host Name Conflicts" for more information.)

How will the network installation procedures be affected by the transition to NIS+? Analyze the changes required, if any. Gauging the impact of NIS+ on your site administrative practices can help uncover potential roadblocks.