Network Information Service (NIS) B.11.31.02 Administrator's Guide

4 Configuring and Administering an NIS Slave Server
This chapter describes how to configure an NIS slave server.
An NIS slave server provides information to the NIS clients and takes the load off the NIS master
server. The NIS maps are created on the NIS master server and then transferred to the slave
servers. Changes to the NIS maps must be made on the NIS master server, which then transfers
the updated copies of the maps to the NIS slave servers.
This chapter addresses the following topics:
• “Modifying the Slave Server passwd File” (page 35)
• “Modifying Slave Server group File” (page 35)
• “Enabling the NIS Slave Server Capability” (page 36)
• “Verifying the NIS Slave Server Configuration” (page 37)
• “Scheduling Regular Map Transfers from the NIS Master Server” (page 37)
• “Allowing Selected Clients to Access the Slave Server” (page 38)
For information on removing the slave server, see “Removing a Slave Server from the NIS
Domain” (page 31).
Modifying the Slave Server passwd File
This section describes how to modify the slave server /etc/passwd file to obtain user information
from the master server.
NOTE: Back up the /etc/passwd file before you perform the step described in this section.
Remove all the users from the /etc/passwd file, except the superuser, users with administrative
privileges, and the system entries required for the system to boot. Usually, system entries have
user IDs less than 100.
The changes made to the /etc/passwd file on an NIS slave server must be identical to the
changes made on an NIS client.
Following is an example of an /etc/passwd file on an NIS slave server:
root:0AnhFBmriKvHA:0:3::/:/bin/ksh
daemon:*:1:5::/:/bin/sh
bin:*:2:2::/bin:/bin/sh
adm:*:4:4::/usr/adm:/bin/sh
uucp:*:5:3::/usr/spool/uucppublic:/usr/lib/uucp/uucico
lp:*:9:7::/usr/spool/lp:/bin/sh
hpdb:*:27:1:ALLBASE:/:/bin/sh
For more information, see passwd (4).
Modifying Slave Server group File
This section describes how to modify the slave server group file.
NOTE: Backup the /etc/group file before attempting the steps mentioned in the procedure
below.
Modifying the slave server group file involves removing all the groups from the /etc/group
file, except the entries required for the system to boot. The groups that will be required are the
list of groups in the /etc/passwd file.
The changes made to the /etc/group file on an NIS slave server must be identical to the changes
made on an NIS client.
Following is an example of an /etc/group file on an NIS slave server:
Modifying the Slave Server passwd File 35