nscd(1M)                                                  System Administration Commands                                                  nscd(1M)

NAME

       nscd - name service cache daemon

SYNOPSIS

       /usr/sbin/nscd [-f configuration-file] [-g] [-e cachename, yes | no]  [-i cachename]

DESCRIPTION

       nscd is a process that provides a cache for the most common name service requests. The default configuration-file /etc/nscd.conf determines
       the behavior of the cache daemon. See nscd.conf(4).

       nscd provides caching for the passwd(4), group(4), hosts(4), ipnodes(4), exec_attr(4), prof_attr(4),  and  user_attr(4)  databases  through
       standard libc interfaces, such as gethostbyname(3NSL), getipnodebyname(3SOCKET), gethostbyaddr(3NSL), and others. Each cache has a separate
       time-to-live for its data; modifying the local database (/etc/hosts, /etc/resolv.conf, and so forth) causes that cache  to  become  invali-
       dated upon the next call to nscd. The shadow file is specifically not cached. getspnam(3C) calls remain uncached as a result.

       nscd also acts as its own administration tool. If an instance of nscd is already running, commands are passed to the running version trans-
       parently.

       In order to preserve NIS+ security, the nscd service checks the permissions on the passwd table if NIS+ is being used. If this table cannot
       be  read  by  unauthenticated users, then nscd will make sure that any encrypted password information returned from the NIS+ server is sup-
       plied only to the owner of that password.

OPTIONS

       Several of the options described below require a cachename specification. Supported values are passwd, group,  hosts,  ipnodes,  exec_attr,
       prof_attr, and user_attr.

       -f configuration-file   Causes nscd to read its configuration data from the specified file.

       -g                      Prints  current  configuration  and  statistics  to standard output. This is the only option executable by non-root
                               users.

       -e cachename, yes|no    Enables or disables the specified cache.

       -i cachename            Invalidate the specified cache.

EXAMPLES

       Example 1: Stopping and restarting the nscd daemon.

       example# svcadm disable system/name-service-cache

       example# svcadm enable system/name-service-cache

FILES

       /etc/nscd.conf          Determines athe behavior of the cache daemon

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE         |      ATTRIBUTE VALUE        |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability                 |SUNWcsu                      |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       svcs(1),  svcadm(1M),  getspnam(3C),  gethostbyname(3NSL),  getipnodebyname(3SOCKET),   exec_attr(4),   group(4),   hosts(4),   ipnodes(4),
       nscd.conf(4), nsswitch.conf(4), passwd(4), prof_attr(4), user_attr(4), attributes(5),

NOTES

       The output from the -g option to nscd is subject to change. Do not rely upon it as a programming interface.

       The nscd service is managed by the service management facility, smf(5), under the service identifier:

       svc:/system/name-service-cache

       Administrative  actions  on  this  service, such as enabling, disabling, or requesting restart, can be performed using svcadm(1M). The ser-
       vice's status can be queried using the svcs(1) command.

SunOS 5.10                                                          30 Oct 2003                                                           nscd(1M)