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

NOTE: Back up the /etc/group file before modifying it.
To modify the NIS client's /etc/group file, remove all groups from the /etc/group
file except the entries required for the system to boot and function properly. The groups
that will be required are the groups listed in the /etc/passwd file.
The changes made to the /etc/group file on an NIS client must be identical to the
changes made on the NIS slave server.
For more information, see group (4).
Enabling the NIS Client
To enable the NIS client, complete the following steps:
NOTE: Back up the NIS configuration files /etc/rc.config.d/namesvrs and
/etc/nsswitch.conf, before performing the steps described in this section.
1. Verify whether the NIS server, to which the client wants to bind, is running. Run
the following command on the NIS client:
# /usr/bin/ypwhich -m
2. Log in to the NIS client as a superuser.
3. Add the directory paths /var/yp, /usr/lib/netsvc/yp, and /usr/ccs/bin
in the $PATH environment variable:
# export PATH=$PATH:/var/yp:/usr/lib/netsvc/yp:/usr/ccs/bin
• Verify that the directory paths /var/yp, /usr/lib/netsvc/yp, and /usr/
ccs/bin are successfully added in the $PATH environment variable:
# echo $PATH
The system displays all the paths that the PATH environment variable contains:
/var/yp:/usr/lib/netsvc/yp:/usr/ccs/bin
4. Set the NIS domain name:
# /usr/bin/domainname domainname
where:
domainname is the domain name of the server serving the client.
5. In the /etc/rc.config.d/namesvrs file, set the NIS_DOMAIN variable to the
domain name and the NIS_CLIENT variable to 1:
NIS_DOMAIN=domainname
NIS_CLIENT=1
6. Copy the /etc/nsswitch.nis file to the /etc/nsswitch.conf file:
# cp /etc/nsswitch.nis /etc/nsswitch.conf
7. Construct a list of NIS servers to which the NIS client can bind:
Enabling the NIS Client 53