NIS and NIS+ cheat sheet
This quick reference guide is for administrating NIS and NIS+. Information is presented in a task oriented manner. Commands are summarized in the table below which is followed by explanatory notes. Each task is followed by the command or commands necessary when using local files (e.g. /etc/hosts), NIS and NIS+.
Commands
The tables below provide a list of administrative commands used for local file administration and for both NIS and NIS+. Other relevant commands and references can be found at the end of this quick reference guide.
NIS commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| ypcat | Display the contents of a NIS table |
| ypmatch | Find an entry in a NIS table |
| yppush | Copy a NIS map to slave servers |
| ypwhich | Find the name of a NIS server |
NIS+ commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| nisaddcred | Add or delete NIS+ credentials |
| niscat | Display the contents of a NIS+ table |
| nismatch | Find an entry in a NIS+ table |
| nisping | Update replicas |
| nistbladm | Administer NIS+ table |
| nisls | List contents of NIS+ directory |
User Management
| Task | Files | NIS | NIS+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| List users | cat /etc/passwd | ypcat passwd.byname | niscat passwd.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
| List UIDs | cat /etc/passwd | cut -f3 -d: | sort -n | ypcat passwd.byname | cut -f3 -d: | sort -n | niscat passwd.org_dir.$DIRECTORY | \ cut -f3 -d: | sort -n |
| Find user | grep $USERID /etc/passwd | ypmatch $USERID passwd.byname | nismatch $USERID passwd.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
| Add user | useradd |
|
|
| Change user | usermod |
|
nistbladm -e column=value '[name=$USERID], passwd.org_dir.$DIRECTORY' e.g. nistbladm -e home=/somewhere/mynewhome '[name=smurf], passwd.org_dir.mydomain.local' |
| Delete user | userdel |
|
|
| Disable user account | passwd -r files -l | passwd -r nis -l | |
| Change user's password | passwd -r files $USERID | passwd -r nis $USERID |
|
| Set user defaults | useradd -D | N/A | N/A |
Group Management
| Task | Files | NIS | NIS+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| List groups | cat /etc/group | ypcat group.byname | niscat group.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
| List GIDs | cat /etc/group | cut -f3 -d: | sort -n | ypcat group.byname | cut -f3 -d: | sort -n | niscat group.org_dir.$DIRECTORY | cut -f3 -d: | sort -n |
| Add group | groupadd |
|
nistbladm |
| Delete group | groupdel |
|
nistbladm |
| Add user to group | usermod -G list-of-secondary- groups |
|
nistbladm -e |
Netgroup Management
| Task | Files | NIS | NIS+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add user to netgroup | N/A |
|
nistbladm —a name='$NETGROUP' user='$USERID' group=' host=' domain=' comment=' netgroup.org_dir.$DIRECTORY
or nistbladm —a name=$NETGROUP user=$USERID netgroup.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
| Add a host to a netgroup | N/A |
|
nistbladm —a name='$NETGROUP' user=' group=' host=' domain=' comment=' netgroup.org_dir.$DIRECTORY
or nistbladm —a name=$NETGROUP host=$HOST netgroup.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
Host Management
| Task | Files | NIS | NIS+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| List hosts | cat /etc/hosts | ypcat hosts.byname | niscat hosts.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
| Find host | grep $HOST /etc/hosts | ypmatch $HOST hosts.byname | nismatch $HOST hosts.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
| Add host | Edit /etc/hosts |
|
|
| Edit host | Edit /etc/hosts |
|
nistbladm -e column=value '[name=$HOST],hosts.org_dir.$DIRECTORY'
e.g. nistbladm -e alias=anothername '[name=myhost],hosts.org_dir.mydomain.local' |
| Remove host | remove entry from /etc/hosts |
|
nistbladm —r name='$HOST' hosts.org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
Domain/Directory Management
| Task | Files | NIS | NIS+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Print domain | N/A | domainname | domainname |
| Set domain | N/A | domainname $DIRECTORY | domainname $DIRECTORY |
| List master server | N/A | ypwhich -m | niscat -o $DIRECTORY |
| List directory servers | N/A | ypcat -k ypservers | niscat -o $DIRECTORY |
| Update slave servers / replicas | N/A | yppush | nisping org_dir.$DIRECTORY
nisping groups_dir.$DIRECTORY |
| List maps/ tables | N/A | ypwhich -m | nisls org_dir.$DIRECTORY |
Table Legend
The following varibles have been used in the above tables:
| Varitable | Meaning |
|---|---|
| $DIRECTORY | Your directory, e.g acme.local |
| $USERID | User id / user name, e.g. jdoe |
| $NIS_SOURCE | Directory containing NIS source files e.g /etc |
| $ENCRYPTED | Encrypted password |
| $UID | User's uid |
| $GID | User's gid (primary group id) |
| $DESCRIPTION | Description for account, typically a user's name, e.g. John Doe |
| $PATH2HOME | Directory path to a user's home directory |
| $SHELL | User's shell |
| $HOST | Unqualified host name |
| $CNAME | Alias |
| $HOSTPASSWORD | Network password for host |
Other commands
Some other commands relevant to directories that are not specific to a particular directory service:
In Solaris 10, pwck and grpck can be used to check the passwd and group files; the commands can take a parameter which is the name of the file to check which is useful if the source files for NIS are located in a directory other than /etc.
getent is a Solaris command for finding entries from a number of possible directory sources and / or files.
The command domainname in Solaris 10 will display (or set) the domain name for the directory service in use (NIS, NIS+ or DNS).
Additional notes
NIS
It is often recommended that the files in the /etc directory should not be used as the source files for a NIS system. The recommendation is to take copies of these files and store edited versions in an appropriate file system directory (e.g. /export/yp/etc). Unfortunately there is no standard directory for this purpose.
NIS+
Changing a user's password
As an administrator, when changing a user's password for them, it is also necessary to update the cred.org_dir table. This is most easily done using nisclient -c -o
Further information
Sun document: System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (DNS, NIS, and LDAP) http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/816-4556
Sun document: System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (NIS+) http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/816-4558