nscd.conf(4) File Formats nscd.conf(4)
NAME
nscd.conf - name service cache daemon configuration
SYNOPSIS
/etc/nscd.conf
DESCRIPTION
The nscd.conf file contains the configuration information for nscd(1M). Each line specifies either an attribute and a value, or an
attribute, cachename, and a value. Fields are separated either by <SPACE> or <TAB> characters. A `#' (number sign) indicates the begin-
ning of a comment; characters up to the end of the line are not interpreted by nscd.
cachename is represented by hosts, ipnodes, passwd, group, exec_attr, prof_attr, or user_attr.
attribute supports the following:
logfile debug-file-name Specifies name of the file to which debug info should be written. Use /dev/tty for standard out-
put.
debug-level value Sets the debug level desired. value may range from 0 (the default) to 10. Use of this option
causes nscd(1M) to run in the foreground and not become a daemon. Note that the output of the
debugging command is not likely to remain the same from release-to-release; scripts should not
rely on its format.
enable-cache cachename value Enables or disables the specified cache. value may be either yes or no.
positive-time-to-live cachename value Sets the time-to-live for positive entries (successful queries) in the specified cache. value is
in integer seconds. Larger values increase cache hit rates and reduce mean response times, but
increase problems with cache coherence. Note that sites that push (update) NIS maps nightly can
set the value to be the equivalent of 12 hours or more with very good performance implications.
negative-time-to-live cachename value Sets the time-to-live for negative entries (unsuccessful queries) in the specified cache. value
is in integer seconds. Can result in significant performance improvements if there are several
files owned by uids (user IDs) not in system databases; should be kept small to reduce cache
coherency problems.
suggested-size cachename value Sets the suggested number of hash buckets in the specified cache. This parameter should be changed
only if the number of entries in the cache exceeds the suggested size by more than a factor of four
or five. Since this is the internal hash table size, value should remain a prime number for
optimum efficiency.
keep-hot-count cachename value This attribute allows the administrator to set the number of entries nscd(1M) is to keep current in
the specified cache. value is an integer number which should approximate the number of entries
frequently used during the day.
check-files cachename value Enables or disables checking the file belonging to the specified cachename for changes. If enabled
(which is the default), changes in the corresponding file cause the cache to be invalidated within
10 seconds. Can be disabled if files are never modified for a slight performance boost, particu-
larly over NFS. value may be either yes or no.
SEE ALSO
nscd(1M), group(4), hosts(4), ipnodes(4), passwd(4)
SunOS 5.10 13 May 2004 nscd.conf(4)