ypfiles - Network Information Service (NIS) database and
directory structure
The NIS database lookup service uses a database of
dbm/ndbm, btree, or hash files in the /var/yp directory
hierarchy. A dbm/ndbm database consists of two files created
by calls to the dbminit(3) function. One has the
filename extension .pag and the other has the filename
extension .dir. For instance, the database named
hosts.byname, is implemented by the pair of files
hosts.byname.pag and hosts.byname.dir. A btree or hash
database consists of a single file created by calls to the
dbopen(3) function. A btree file has the filename extension
.btree; a hash file has the extension .hash.
A dbm/ndbm database served by NIS is called an NIS map. A
NIS domain is a named set of NIS maps. Each NIS domain is
implemented as a subdirectory of /var/yp containing the
maps. The number of NIS domains that can exist is unlimited.
Each domain can contain any number of maps.
The NIS maps are not required by the NIS lookup service,
although they may be required for the normal operation of
other parts of the system. The NIS lookup service serves
all maps. If the map exists in a given domain and a client
asks about it, NIS will serve it. There is, however, a
set of default maps that the NIS service serves. The
files representing these maps are listed in this description
under Files.
For a map to be accessible consistently, it must exist on
all NIS servers that serve the domain. To provide data
consistency between the replicated maps, an entry to execute
the ypxfr command periodically should be made in the
/var/spool/cron/crontab/root file on each slave server.
More information on this topic is in ypxfr(8). An entry
in the /var/spool/cron/crontab/root file must not exist,
either on a NIS master server or on a pure NIS client
machine.
The NIS maps should contain two distinguished key-value
pairs. The first is the key YP_LAST_MODIFIED, whose value
is a 10-character ASCII order number. The order number
should be the UNIX time in seconds when the map was built.
The second key is YP_MASTER_NAME, with the name of the NIS
master server as a value. The makedbm(8) command generates
both key-value pairs automatically. A map that does
not contain both key-value pairs can be served by the NIS,
but the ypserv process will not be able to return values
for ``Get order number'' or ``Get master name'' requests.
In addition, the values of these two keys are used by
ypxfr(8) when it transfers a map from a master NIS server
to a slave.
Before they can be properly accessed, the NIS maps must be
initially set up for both masters and slaves by using the
ypsetup(8) function. Further, NIS maps must be generated
and modified only at the master server location. Copies
of the master server NIS maps can then be transferred to
the slave servers using the ypxfr(8) function. If ypxfr
is unable to determine a map's location, or if it is
unable to determine whether the local copy is more recent
than the master copy, extra command line switches must be
set when it is executed.
After the server databases are set up, the contents of
some maps may change. In general, some ASCII source version
of the database exists on the master. This version
should be changed with a standard text editor. The update
is incorporated into the NIS map and is propagated from
the master to the slaves by running /var/yp/Makefile. All
maps must have entries in /var/yp/Makefile. If an NIS map
is added, the /var/yp/Makefile must be edited to support
the new map. The makefile uses makedbm(8) to generate the
NIS map on the master, and yppush(8) to propagate the
changed map to the slaves. The yppush(8) command is a
client of the map ypservers, which lists all of the NIS
servers.
/var/yp/src/passwd
/var/yp/src/group
/var/yp/src/hosts
/var/yp/src/networks
/var/yp/src/services
/var/yp/src/protocols
/var/yp/src/netgroup
Commands: makedbm(8), rpcinfo(8), ypmake(8), yppoll(8),
yppush(8), ypserv(8), ypsetup(8), ypxfr(8).
Functions: btree(3), dbm(3), hash(3), ndbm(3). delim off
ypfiles(4)
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