nisinit(1M)						  System Administration Commands					       nisinit(1M)

NAME

       nisinit - NIS+ client and server initialization utility

SYNOPSIS

       nisinit -r

       nisinit -p Y | D | N parent_domain host...

       nisinit -c [-k <key_domain>] -H host | -B | -C coldstart

DESCRIPTION

       nisinit	initializes a machine to be a NIS+ client or an NIS+ root master 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 creates the file /var/nis/data/root.object and initialize  it  to  contain
	   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+ subtree 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 initialization 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
			   command 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 contacted as a trusted NIS+ server. The nisinit command will iterate over
			   each transport in the NETPATH 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 subnet. 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 nisshow-
			   cache(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 VALUES

       nisinit 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 ALSO

       NIS+(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 5.11							    12 Dec 2001 						       nisinit(1M)