Network Information Service (NIS) B.11.31.04 Administrator's Guide

Enabling the Shadow Password Mode
Shadow password mode enhances the password security of the system by maintaining
user passwords in a different file called /etc/shadow, and replaces the encrypted
password in the passwd file with x.
To enable the shadow password mode on an NIS master server, complete the following
steps:
1. Log in to the NIS master server as a superuser.
2. Set the SHADOW_MODE variable to 1 in the /etc/rc.config.d/namesvrs file:
SHADOW_MODE=1
3. Move the system to the shadow password mode:
# pwconv
NOTE: The pwconv and pwunconv commands enable you to switch the system
between the shadow password mode and the normal mode.
4. Restart the NIS server:
/sbin/init.d/nis.server stop
/sbin/init.d/nis.server start
NOTE: The encrypted password information used for creating NIS password
maps is present in the shadow file and is visible in the passwd maps
(passwd.byname and passwd.byuid).
Controlling NIS Logging
You can control the logging functions for the following NIS daemons:
• ypxfr
• ypserv
• ypbind
• yppasswdd
Each message logged by these daemons can be identified by the date, time, host name,
process ID, and the name of the function that generated the message. You can direct
log messages from all NIS daemons to the same file.
The following subsections describe how to control the logging function of NIS processes:
• Starting and Stopping the Logging of ypxfr
If the ypxfr daemon is run interactively from the command line, it logs messages
to the standard output.
If the ypxfr daemon is run by the cron job or by the yppush command, it logs
messages to the /var/yp/ypxfr.log file, if the file exists.
Enabling the Shadow Password Mode 41