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NAME

na_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 translation 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 supports only the NIS client. When the node needs to resolve a key in a given map, it looks at the /etc/nsswitch.conf (see na_nsswitch.conf(5)) 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 node 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 node by running the setup command (see na_setup(1)) 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 na_rc(5)) 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 mycompany.com
  options nis.enable on

2. Reboot the node for these changes to take effect. If the above options commands 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

na_setup(1), na_rc(5), na_resolv.conf(5), na_nsswitch.conf(5).


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