nisinit(1M) System Administration Commands nisinit(1M)NAMEnisinit - NIS+ client and server initialization utility
SYNOPSISnisinit-r
nisinit-p Y | D | N parent_domain host...
nisinit-c [-k <key_domain>] -H host | -B | -C coldstart
DESCRIPTIONnisinit initializes a machine to be a NIS+ client or an NIS+ root mas‐
ter server. It may be easier to use nisclient(1M) or nisserver(1M) to
accomplish this same task.
OPTIONS-r
Initialize the machine to be a NIS+ root server. This option cre‐
ates the file /var/nis/data/root.object and initialize it to con‐
tain information about this machine. It uses the sysinfo(2) system
call to retrieve the name of the default domain.
To initialize the machine as an NIS+ root server, it is advisable
to use the "-r" option of nisserver(1M), instead of using "nisinit
-r".
-p Y | D | N parent_domain host ...
This option is used on a root server to initialize a
/var/nis/data/parent.object to make this domain a part of the
namespace above it. Only root servers can have parent objects. A
parent object describes the namespace ``above'' the NIS+ root. If
this is an isolated domain, this option should not be used. The
argument to this option tells the command what type of name server
is serving the domain above the NIS+ domain. When clients attempt
to resolve a name that is outside of the NIS+ namespace, this
object is returned with the error NIS_FOREIGNNS indicating that a
name space boundary has been reached. It is up to the client to
continue the name resolution process.
The parameter parent_domain is the name of the parent domain in a
syntax that is native to that type of domain. The list of host
names that follow the domain parameter are the names of hosts that
serve the parent domain. If there is more than one server for a
parent domain, the first host specified should be the master server
for that domain.
Y Specifies that the parent directory is a NIS version 2 domain.
D Specifies that the parent directory is a DNS domain.
N Specifies that the parent directory is another NIS+ domain.
This option is useful for connecting a pre-existing NIS+ sub‐
tree into the global namespace.
Note that in the current implementation, the NIS+ clients do not
take advantage of the -p feature. Also, since the parent object is
currently not replicated on root replica servers, it is recommended
that this option not be used.
-c
Initializes the machine to be a NIS+ client. There are three ini‐
tialization options available: initialize by coldstart, initialize
by hostname, and initialize by broadcast. The most secure mechanism
is to initialize from a trusted coldstart file. The second option
is to initialize using a hostname that you specify as a trusted
host. The third method is to initialize by broadcast and it is the
least secure method.
-C coldstart Causes the file coldstart to be used as a prototype
coldstart file when initializing a NIS+ client.
This coldstart file can be copied from a machine
that is already a client of the NIS+ namespace. For
maximum security, an administrator can encrypt and
encode (with uuencode(1C)) the coldstart file and
mail it to an administrator bringing up a new
machine. The new administrator would then decode
(with uudecode), decrypt, and then use this file
with the nisinit command to initialize the machine
as an NIS+ client. If the coldstart file is from
another client in the same domain, the nisinit com‐
mand may be safely skipped and the file copied into
the /var/nis directory as /var/nis/NIS_COLD_START.
-H hostname Specifies that the host hostname should be con‐
tacted as a trusted NIS+ server. The nisinit com‐
mand will iterate over each transport in the NET‐
PATH environment variable and attempt to contact
rpcbind(1M) on that machine. This hostname must be
reachable from the client without the name service
running. For IP networks this means that there must
be an entry in /etc/hosts for this host when
nisinit is invoked.
-B Specifies that the nisinit command should use an IP
broadcast to locate a NIS+ server on the local sub‐
net. Any machine that is running the NIS+ service
may answer. No guarantees are made that the server
that answers is a server of the organization's
namespace. If this option is used, it is advisable
to check with your system administrator that the
server and domain served are valid. The binding
information can be dumped to the standard output
using the nisshowcache(1M) command.
Note that nisinit-c will just enable navigation of the NIS+ name
space from this client. To make NIS+ your name service, modify the
file /etc/nsswitch.conf to reflect that. See nsswitch.conf(4) for
more details.
-k <key_domain>
This option specifies the domain where root's credentials are
stored. If it is not specified, then the system default domain is
assumed. This domain name is used to create the
/var/nis/NIS_COLD_START file.
RETURN VALUESnisinit returns 0 on success and 1 on failure.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Initializing the Machine as an NIS+ Client using the Host
freddy as a Trusted Server
This example initializes the machine as an NIS+ client using the host
freddy as a trusted server.
example# nisinit-cH freddy
Example 2 Setting up a Client using a Trusted Coldstart File
This example sets up a client using a trusted coldstart file.
example# nisinit-cC /tmp/colddata
Example 3 Setting up a Client Using an IP Broadcast
This example sets up a client using an IP broadcast.
example# nisinit-cB
Example 4 Setting up a Root Server
This example sets up a root server.
example# nisinit-r
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
NETPATH This environment variable may be set to the transports to
try when contacting the NIS+ server (see netconfig(4)). The
client library will only attempt to contact the server using
connection oriented transports.
FILES
/var/nis/NIS_COLD_START
This file contains a list of servers, their transport addresses,
and their Secure RPC public keys that serve the machine's default
domain.
/var/nis/data/root.object
This file describes the root object of the NIS+ namespace. It is a
standard XDR-encoded NIS+ directory object that can be modified by
authorized clients using the nis_modify() interface.
/var/nis/data/parent.object
This file describes the namespace that is logically above the NIS+
namespace. The most common type of parent object is a DNS object.
This object contains contact information for a server of that
domain.
/etc/hosts
Internet host table.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWnisu │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSONIS+(1), uuencode(1C), nisclient(1M), nisserver(1M), nisshowcache(1M),
sysinfo (2), hosts(4), netconfig(4), nisfiles(4), attributes(5)NOTES
NIS+ might not be supported in future releases of the Solaris operating
system. Tools to aid the migration from NIS+ to LDAP are available in
the current Solaris release. For more information, visit
http://www.sun.com/directory/nisplus/transition.html.
SunOS 5.10 12 Dec 2001 nisinit(1M)
