Command ReferenceA-165
NAME
NIS - NIS client service
DESCRIPTION
The NIS client service provides information about hosts, user passwords, user
groups and netgroups on a network. In NIS terminology, each of the above is
referred to as the map and the specific information being looked up is called the
key. For example, the hosts map is like the /etc/hosts file; it provides a transla-
tion from host names to IP addresses. The NIS service typically has two parts: a
client component which requests information and a name server which provides
it.
Data ONTAP 5.3 supports only the NIS client. When the filer needs to resolve a
key in a given map, it looks at the /etc/nsswitch.conf (see nsswitch.conf) file to
figure out the order in which the various databases should be consulted. For
example, in case of the hosts map the lookup order may be file, nis, dns. This
means that the filer will first consult the /etc/hosts file. If the host name is not
found in the local file, it will then try the NIS service. If the host name is still not
found, then it will attempt a DNS lookup.
The NIS client can be enabled on the filer by running the setup command (see
setup) or by manually editing the configuration files as described below. If NIS is
enabled by running the setup command, then the NIS domain name needs to be
entered.
Enabling NIS without the setup command:
1. Edit the /etc/rc file (see rc) to make sure that the option specifying the NIS
domain name is set and the option to enable NIS is on. For example:
options nis.domainname dell.com
options nis.enable on
2. Reboot the filer for these changes to take effect. If the above options com-
mands are also entered from the console, the reboot can be avoided. If the
options are entered via the console only, they are not saved across a reboot.
Enabling NIS with the setup command:
At setup time, one can choose to enable NIS when prompted to do so.
setup then queries for the NIS domain name.
SEE ALSO
setup, rc, resolv.conf, nsswitch.conf
NIS