rpc.nisd(1M)

NAME

rpc.nisd, rpc.nisd_resolv, nisd, nisd_resolv — NIS+ service daemon

SYNOPSIS

/usr/sbin/rpc.nisd [ -ACDFhlv ] [ -Y [ -B [ -t netid ]]] [ -d dictionary ] [ -L load ] [ -S level ] [ -z number ]

rpc.nisd_resolv

DESCRIPTION

The rpc.nisd daemon is an RPC service that implements the NIS+ service. This daemon must be running on all machines that serve a portion of the NIS+ namespace.

rpc.nisd is usually started from a system startup script.

rpc.nisd_resolv is an auxillary process that is started by rpc.nisd when it is invoked with -B option. Note that rpc.nisd_resolv should not be started independently.

Options

-A

Authentication verbose mode. The daemon logs all the authentication related activities to syslogd(1M) with LOG_INFO priority.

-B

Provide ypserv compatible DNS forwarding for NIS host requests. The DNS resolving process, rpc.nisd_resolv, is started and controlled by rpc.nisd. This option requires that the /etc/resolv.conf file be set up for communication with a DNS nameserver. The nslookup utility can be used to verify communication with a DNS nameserver. See resolver(4) and nslookup(1).

-C

Open diagnostic channel on /dev/console.

-D

Debug mode (don't fork).

-F

Force the server to do a checkpoint of the database when it starts up. Forced checkpoints may be required when the server is low on disk space. This option removes updates from the transaction log that have propagated to all of the replicas.

-L number

Specify the ``load'' the NIS+ service is allowed to place on the server. The load is specified in terms of the number of child processes that the server may spawn. This number must be at least 1 for the callback functions to work correctly. The default is 128.

-S level

Set the authorization security level of the service. The argument is a number between 0 and 2. By default, the daemon runs at security level 2.

0: Security level 0 is designed to be used for testing and initial setup of the NIS+ namespace. When running at level 0, the daemon does not enforce any access controls. Any client is allowed to perform any operation, including updates and deletions.
1: At security level 1, the daemon accepts both AUTH_SYS and AUTH_DES credentials for authenticating clients and authorizing them to perform NIS+ operations. This is not a secure mode of operation since AUTH_SYS credentials are easily forged. It should not be used on networks in which any untrusted users may potentially have access.
2: At security level 2, the daemon accepts only AUTH_DES credentials for authentication and authorization. This is the highest level of security currently provided by the NIS+ service. This is the default security level if the -S option is not used.

-Y

Put the server into NIS (YP) compatibility mode. When operating in this mode, the NIS+ server will respond to NIS Version 2 requests using the version 2 protocol. Because the YP protocol is not authenticated, only those items that have read access to nobody (the unauthenticated request) will be visible through the V2 protocol. It supports only the standard Version 2 maps in this mode (see the -B option above and the Notes in the DESCRIPTION section in ypfiles(4)).

-d dictionary

Specify an alternate dictionary for the NIS+ database. The primary use of this option is for testing. Note that the string is not interpreted, rather it is simply passed to the db_initialize function. See nis_db(3N).

-h

Print list of options.

-t netid

Use netid as the transport for communication between rpc.nisd and rpc.nisd_resolv. The default transport is tcp.

-v

Verbose. With this option, the daemon sends a running narration of what it is doing to the syslog daemon (see syslogd(1M)) at LOG_INFO priority. This option is most useful for debugging problems with the service (see also -A option).

-z number

Specify the maximum RPC record size that can be used over connection-oriented transports. The default is 9000 bytes. If a size less than the default value is specified, then the default value is used as the maximum record size. The maximum value that can be used is that of MAXINT. This option can be used in environments where the size of an incoming client request is expected to exceed 9000 bytes. The maximum RPC record size should be set equal to or slightly greater than the maximum expected RPC request size. All servers in the domain should have the same setting. To avoid unnecessary consumption of resources, avoid setting this value significantly above the maximum request size required.

EXAMPLES

The following example sets up the NIS+ service.

rpc.nisd 

The following example sets up the NIS+ service, emulating YP with DNS forwarding.

rpc.nisd -YB 

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Environment Variables

NETPATH: The transports that the NIS+ service will use can be limited by setting this environment variable (see netconfig(4)).

WARNINGS

HP-UX 11i Version 2 is the last HP-UX release on which NIS+ is supported.

LDAP is the recommended replacement for NIS+. HP fully supports the industry standard naming services based on LDAP.

FILES

/var/nis/parent.object: This file contains an XDR encoded NIS+ object that describes the namespace above a root server. This parent namespace may be another NIS+ namespace or a foreign namespace such as one served by the Domain Name Service. It is only present on servers that are serving the root of the namespace.
/var/nis/root.object: This file contains an XDR encoded NIS+ object that describes the root of the namespace. It is only present on servers that are serving the root of the namespace.
/etc/rc.config.d/namesvrs: initialization script for NIS+

AUTHOR

rpc.nisd and rpc.nisd_resolv were developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.