Populating Tables--Options

When you populate a table--whether from a file or an NIS map--you can use any of three options:

• Replace - With the replace option, NIS+ first deletes all existing entries in the table and then adds the entries from the source. In a large table, this adds a large set of entries into the master server's /var/nis/trans.log file (one set for removing the existing entries, another for adding the new ones), taking up space in /var/nis, Thus, propagation to replicas will take longer.
• Append - The append option simply adds the source entries to the NIS+ table.
• Merge - The merge option produces the same result as the replace option but uses a different process, one that can greatly reduce the number of operations that must be sent to the replicas. With the merge option, NIS+ handles three types of entries differently:

  · Entries that exist only in the source are added to the table

  · Entries that exist in both the source and the table are updated in the table

  · Entries that exist only in the NIS+ table are deleted from the table

  When updating a large table with a file or map whose contents are not vastly different from those of the table, the merge option can spare the server a great many operations. Because it deletes only the entries that are

not duplicated in the source (the replace option deletes all entries, indiscriminately), it saves one delete and one add operation for every duplicate entry. Therefore, this is the preferred option.

Populating NIS+ Tables From Files

This task transfers the contents of an ASCII file, such as /etc/hosts, into an NIS+ table.

Here is an outline of the procedure:

1. Checking the content of each file that you will be transferring data from.

2. Making a copy of each file. Using this copy to make the actual transfer from. (In this guide, copies of files to be transferred have names ending in xfr (for example, hosts.xfr).

3. Logging in to an NIS+ client. (You must have credentials and permissions allowing you to update the tables. See "Security Considerations," below.)

4. Adding /usr/lib/nis to the search path for this shell (if not already done).

5. Using nisaddent to transfer any of these files one at a time: aliases, bootparams, ethers, group, hosts, netgroup, netmasks, networks, passwd, protocols, rpc, services, shadow.

6. Transferring the publickey file.

7. Transferring the automounter information.

8. Checkpointing the tables.

Security Considerations

You can perform this task from any NIS+ client, including the root master server, as long as you have the proper credentials and access rights. If you are going to replace or merge the entries in the table with the entries from the text file, you must have create and destroy rights to the table. If you are going to append the new entries, you only need create rights.

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Note - The NIS+ security system is complex. If you are not familiar with NIS+ security, you may wish to review the security-related chapters of NIS+ and FNS Administration Guide before starting to set up your NIS+ environment.

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After you complete this operation, the table entries will be owned by the NIS+ principal that performed the operation and the group specified by the NIS_GROUP environment variable.

Prerequisites

• The domain must have already been set up and its master server must be running.
• The domain's servers must have enough swap space to accommodate the new table information. See "Disk Space and Memory Recommendations" on page 4.
• The information in the file must be formatted appropriately for the table into which it will be loaded. See "Prerequisites to Running nispopulate" on page 30 for information on the format a text file must have to be transferred into its corresponding NIS+ table. Local /etc files are usually formatted properly, but may have several comments that you would need to remove.
• No duplicate machine and user names. All users and all machines must have unique names. You cannot have a machine with the same name as a user.
• Machine names cannot contain dots (periods). For example, a machine named sales.alpha is not allowed. A machine named sales-alpha is allowed.

Information You Need

You need the name and location of the text files that will be transferred.

· How to Populate NIS+ Tables From Files

1. Check each file that you will be transferring data from.

   Make sure that there are no spurious or incorrect entries. Make sure that the right data is in the correct place and format properly. Remove any outdated, invalid, or corrupt entries. You should also remove any incomplete or partial entries. (It is easier to add incomplete entries after setup than to try transferring incomplete or damages entries from the file.)

2. Make a working copy of each file you will be transferring.

   Use this working copy for the actual file transfer steps described in this section. Give each working copy the same filename extension (for example, .xfr).

rootmaster% cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.xfr

3. Log in to an NIS+ client.

   You can perform this task from any NIS+ client--just be sure that the client belongs to the same domain as the tables into which you want to transfer the information. The examples in this task use the root master server. Since the administrator in these examples is logged on as superuser, the NIS+ principal actually performing this operation (and therefore needing the proper credentials and access rights) is the root master server.

4. Add /usr/lib/nis to the search path for this shell. Since you will be using the /usr/lib/nis/nisaddent command once per table, adding its prefix to the search path will save you the trouble of typing it each time. Here are two examples, one for C shell users and one for Bourne or Korn shell users:

   For C Shell

rootmaster# setenv $PATH:/usr/lib/nis

For Bourne or Korn Shell

rootmaster# PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/nis rootmaster# export PATH

5. Use nisaddent to transfer any of these files, one at a time: aliases, bootparams, ethers, group, hosts, netgroup, netmasks, networks, protocols, rpc, services

   The publickey, automounter, passwd, and shadow files require slightly different procedures; for the publickey file, go to Step 6; for the automounter files, go to Step 7; for the passwd and shadow files, go to Step 8.

   By default, nisaddent appends the file information to the table information. To replace or merge instead, use the -r or -m options.

   To replace

rootmaster# nisaddent -r -f filename table [domain

To append

rootmaster# nisaddent -a -f filename table [domain]

To merge

rootmaster# nisaddent -m -f filename table [domain]

The best option for populating the tables for the first time is the -a option, the default. The best option to synchronize the NIS+ tables with NIS maps or /etc files is the -m (merge) option.

• filename is the name of the file. The common convention is to append.xfr to the end of these file names to identify them as transfer files created with nisaddent.
• table is the name of the NIS+ table. The domain argument is optional; use it only to populate tables in a different domain. Here are some examples, entered from the root domain's master server. The source files are simply edited versions of the /etc files:

rootmaster# nisaddent -m -f /etc/hosts.xfr hosts rootmaster# nisaddent -m -f /etc/groups.xfr groups

If you perform this operation from a non-root server, keep in mind that a non-root server belongs to the domain above the one it supports; therefore, it is a client of another domain. For example, the Sales.Wiz.Com. master server belongs to the Wiz.Com. domain. To populate tables in the Sales.Wiz.Com. domain from that master server, you would have to append the Sales.Wiz.Com. domain name to the nisaddent statement.

salesmaster# nisaddent -f /etc/hosts.xfr hosts Sales.Wiz.Com.

If you performed this operation as a client of the Sales.Wiz.Com. domain, you would not need to append the domain name to the syntax. For more information about nisaddent, see the tables chapter of NIS+ and FNS Administration Guide.

To verify that the entries were transferred into the NIS+ table, use the niscat command as described more fully in the tables chapter of NIS+ and FNS Administration Guide.

rootmaster# niscat group.org_dir root::0:root other::1:: bin::2:root,bin,daemon . . .

6. Transfer the publickey file.

   Since the domain's cred table already stores some credentials, you need to make sure they are not overwritten by the contents of the publickey text file that you transfer into the cred table. You can avoid this by removing those credentials from the publickey text file. For rootmaster, that line would be:

unix.rootmaster@Wiz.Com public-key:private-key

Then you can transfer the contents of the publickey file to the cred table. Use nisaddent, with the -a (add) option.

rootmaster# nisaddent -a -f /etc/publickey.xfr -t cred.org_dir publickey [domain]

Note, however, that this operation only transfers DES credentials into the cred table. You will still need to create their LOCAL credentials to the cred table.

7. Transfer the automounter information.

   Although the nissetup utility creates auto_master and auto_home tables, they are not considered standard NIS+ tables. Therefore, transferring information into them requires a slightly different syntax; in particular, you must use the -t flag and specify that the table is of type key-value.

rootmaster# nisaddent -f auto.master.xfr -t auto_master.org_dir key-value rootmaster# nisaddent -f auto.home.xfr -t auto_home.org_dir key-value

8. Build the NIS+ passwd table.

   The NIS+ passwd table is composed of data drawn from both the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files. Thus, you must run nisaddent twice to build the passwd table: once for the /etc/passwd file using passwd as the target table, and once for the /etc/shadow file using shadow as the target table. (Note that when running nisaddent on the shadow file, you specify shadow as the target table, even though there is no shadow table and the data is actually being placed in the shadow column of the passwd table.)

rootmaster# nisaddent -m -f /etc/passwd.xfr passwd rootmaster# nisaddent -m -f /etc/shadow.xfr shadow

9. Checkpoint the tables.

   This step ensures that all the servers supporting the domain transfer the new information from their .log files to the disk-based copies of the tables. If you have just set up the root domain, this step affects only the root master server, since the root domain does not yet have replicas. Use the nisping command with the -C (uppercase) option.

rootmaster# nisping -C org_dir Checkpointing replicas serving directory org_dir.Wiz.Com. : Master server is rootmaster.Wiz.Com. Last update occurred at July 14, 1994 Master server is rootmaster.Wiz.Com. checkpoint succeeded.

If you don't have enough swap space, the server will be unable to checkpoint properly, but it won't notify you. One way to make sure all went well is to list the contents of a table with the niscat command. If you don't have enough swap space, you will see this error message:

can't list table: Server busy, Try Again.

Even though it doesn't seem to, this message indicates that you don't have enough swap space. Increase the swap space and checkpoint the domain again.

Populating NIS+ Tables From NIS Maps

This task transfers the contents of an NIS map into an NIS+ table. Here is a list of the steps:

1. Checking the content of each NIS map that you will be transferring data from.

2. Logging in to an NIS+ client.

3. Adding /usr/lib/nis to the search path for this shell.

4. Using nisaddent to transfer any of these maps, one at a time: aliases, bootparams, ethers, group, hosts, netgroup, netmasks, networks, passwd, protocols, rpc, services.

5. Transferring the publickey map.

6. Transferring the automounter information.

7. Checkpointing the tables.

Security Considerations

You can perform this task from any NIS+ client as long as you (or superuser on the client) have the proper credentials and access rights. If you are going to replace or merge the entries in the table with the entries from the NIS map, you must have create and destroy rights to the table. If you are going to append the new entries, you only need create rights.

After you complete this operation, the table entries will be owned by the NIS+ principal that performed the operation (either you or, if logged on as superuser, the client) and the group specified by the NIS_GROUP environment variable.

Prerequisites

• The domain must have already been set up and its master server must be running.
• The dbm files (.pag and .dir files) for the NIS maps you are going to load into the NIS+ tables must already be in a subdirectory of /var/yp.
• No duplicate machine and user names. All users and all machines must have unique names. You cannot have a machine with the same name as a user.
• Machine names cannot contain dots (periods). For example, a machine named sales.alpha is not allowed. A machine named sales-alpha is allowed.

Information You Need

You need the name and location of the NIS maps.

· How to Populate Tables From Maps

1. Check each NIS map that you will be transferring data from.

   Make sure that there are no spurious or incorrect entries. Make sure that the right data is in the correct place and format properly. Remove any outdated, invalid, or corrupt entries. You should also remove any incomplete or partial entries. (It is easier to add incomplete entries after setup than to try transferring incomplete or damages entries from the map.)

2. Log in to an NIS+ client.

   You can perform this task from any NIS+ client--so long as that client belongs to the same domain as the tables into which you want to transfer the information. The examples in this task use the root master server. Since the administrator in these examples is logged in as superuser, the NIS+ principal actually performing this operation (and therefore needing the proper credentials and access rights) is the root master server.

3. Add /usr/lib/nis to the search path for this shell. Since you will be using the /usr/lib/nis/nisaddent command once for each table, adding its prefix to the search path will save you the trouble of typing it each time. Here are two examples, one for C shell users and one for Bourne or Korn shell users:

   For C Shell

rootmaster# setenv $PATH:/usr/lib/nis

For Bourne or Korn Shell

rootmaster# PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/nis rootmaster# export PATH

4. Use nisaddent to transfer any of these maps, one at a time: aliases, bootparams, ethers, group, hosts, netgroup, netmasks, networks, passwd, protocols, rpc, services.

   The publickey and automounter maps require slightly different procedures; for the publickey file, go to Step 6, and for the automounter files, go to Step 7.

By default, nisaddent appends the file information to the table information. To replace or merge instead, use the -r or -m options: To replace

rootmaster# nisaddent -r -y nisdomain table

To append

rootmaster# nisaddent -a -y nisdomain table

To merge

rootmaster# nisaddent -m -y nisdomain table

The best option for populating the tables for the first time is the -a option, which is the default. The best option to synchronize the NIS+ tables with NIS maps or /etc files is the -m (merge) option.

The -y (lowercase) option indicates an NIS domain instead of a text file. The nisdomain argument is the name of the NIS domain whose map you are going transfer into the NIS+ table. You don't have to name the actual map; the nisaddent utility automatically selects the NIS map that correspond to the table argument. Here are some examples:

rootmaster# nisaddent -m -y oldwiz hosts rootmaster# nisaddent -m -y oldwiz passwd rootmaster# nisaddent -m -y oldwiz groups

The first example transfers the contents of the hosts.byname and hosts.byaddr maps in the oldwiz (NIS) domain to the NIS+ hosts table in the root domain (NIS+). The second transfers the NIS maps that store password-related information into the NIS+ passwd table. The third does the same with group-related information. For more information about the nisaddent command, see the tables chapter of NIS+ and FNS Administration Guide.

5. Transfer the publickey map.

   Since the domain's cred table already stores some credentials, you need to make sure they are not overwritten by the contents of the publickey map that you transfer into the cred table.

   a. First, dump the publickey map to a file and then open that file with your text editor.

rootmaster# makedbm -u /var/yp/oldwiz/publickey.byname /etc/publickey.xfr rootmaster# vi /tmp/publickey.tmp

b. Now remove the credentials of the workstation you are logged in to from the publickey map.

For rootmaster, that line would be:

unix.rootmaster@Wiz.Com public-key:private-key

c. Now you can transfer the contents of the file--not the map--into the cred table. Use nisaddent, with the -a (add) option.

rootmaster# nisaddent -a -f /etc/publickey.xfr -t cred.org_dir Publickey

Note, however, that this operation transfers only DES credentials into the cred table. You will still need to create their LOCAL credentials to the cred table.

6. Transfer the automounter information.

   Although the nissetup utility creates auto_master and auto_home tables, they are not considered standard NIS+ tables. Therefore, transferring information into them requires a slightly different syntax:

rootmaster# nisaddent -y oldwiz -Y auto.master -t auto_master.org_dir key-value rootmaster# nisaddent -y oldwiz -Y auto.home -t auto_home.org_dir key-value

The -m and -y options are still required, as is the NIS domain name (in this instance, oldwiz). However, you must precede the name of the NIS map (for example, auto.master) with a -Y (uppercase).Then, as is required when

transferring automounter text files, you must use the -t option, which indicates that this is a nonstandard NIS+ table. Its arguments are the name of the NIS+ directory object (auto_master.org_dir) and the type of table (key-value). Be sure to append the org_dir suffixes to the NIS+ table names.

7. Checkpoint the tables.

   This step ensures that all the servers supporting the domain transfer the new information from their .log files to the disk-based copies of the tables. If you just finished setting up the root domain, this step affects only the root master server, since the root domain does not yet have replicas. Use the nisping command with the -C (uppercase) option.

rootmaster# nisping -C org_dir Checkpointing replicas serving directory org_dir.Wiz.Com. : Master server is rootmaster.Wiz.Com. Last update occurred at July 14, 1994 Master server is rootmaster.Wiz.Com. checkpoint succeeded.

If you don't have enough swap space, the server will be unable to checkpoint properly, but it won't notify you. One way to make sure all went well is to use list the contents of a table with the niscat command. If you don't have enough swap space, you will see this error message:

can't list table: Server busy, Try Again.

Even though it doesn't seem to, this message indicates that you don't have enough swap space. Increase the swap space and checkpoint the domain again.

Transferring Information From NIS+ to NIS

This task transfers the contents of NIS+ tables into the NIS maps on a Solaris 1.x NIS master server. Here is a an outline of the procedure:

1. Logging in to the NIS+ server.

2. Transferring the NIS+ tables in to output files.

3. Transferring the contents of the output files to the NIS maps.

Security Considerations

To perform this task, you must have read access to each table whose contents you transfer.

Prerequisites

The maps must have already been built on the NIS server.

· How to Transfer Information From NIS+ to NIS

1. Log in to the NIS+ server.

   This example uses the server named dualserver.

2. Transfer the NIS+ tables in to output files.

   Use the nisaddent command with the -d option, once for each table.

dualserver% /usr/lib/nis/nisaddent -d -t table tabletype > filename

The -d option transfers the contents of table to filename, converting the contents back to standard /etc file format.

3. Transfer the contents of the output files in to the NIS maps.

   The NIS+ output files are ASCII files that you can use as input files for the NIS maps. Copy them into the NIS master's /etc directory, and then use make as usual.

dualserver# cd /var/yp dualserver# make

Limiting Access to the Passwd Column to Owners and Administrators

This task describes how to limit read access to the password-related columns of the passwd table only to the entry owner and the table administrators without affecting the read access of other authenticated principals (including applications) to the remaining columns of the passwd table.

This task establishes the following rights:

Nobody Owner Group World Table Level Rights : ---- rmcd rmcd ---- Passwd Column Rights : ---- rm-- rmcd ---- Shadow Column Rights : ---- rm-- rmcd ----

Security Considerations

• The domain must not be running in NIS-compatibility mode.
• All clients of the domain must have DES credentials.
• All clients of the domain must be running Solaris 2.3 or a later release.
• Users' network passwords (used to encrypt their DES credentials) must be the same as their login passwords.

Prerequisites

• The passwd table must have already been set up. It need not have any information in it, however.
• The NIS+ principal performing this task must have modify rights to the passwd table.

Information You Need

All you need is the name of the passwd table.

· How to Limit Read Access to the Passwd Column

1. Log in to the domain's master server.

   The examples in this task use the root master server, rootmaster.

2. Check the current table and column permissions.

   Use the niscat -o command.

rootmaster# niscat -o passwd.org_dir

This task assumes the existing permissions are:

Access Rights : ----rmcdrmcdr--- Columns : [0] Name : name Access Rights : r-----------r--- [1] Name : passwd Access Rights : -----m---------- [2] Name : uid Access Rights : r-----------r--- [3] Name : gid Access Rights : r-----------r--- [4] Name : gcos Access Rights : r----m------r--- [5] Name : home Access Rights : r-----------r--- [6] Name : shell Access Rights : r-----------r--- [7] Name : shadow Access Rights : r-----------r---

If your permissions are different, you may need to use a different syntax. For instructions, see the rights chapter of NIS+ and FNS Administration Guide.

3. Change the table permissions.

   Use the nischmod command to change the table's object-level permissions to ---- rmcdrmcd ----

rootmaster# nischmod og=rmcd,nw= passwd.org_dir

4. Change the column permissions.

   Use the nistbladm command with the -u option to change the permissions of the passwd and shadow columns to:

passwd ---- rm-- ---- ---- shadow ---- r--- ---- ----

rootmaster# nistbladm -u passwd=o+r, shadow=o+r passwd.org_dir

5. Verify the new permissions.

   Use the niscat -o command as you did in Step 2. The permissions should look the same as they do in that step's output.

Table Population Summaries

Following are summaries of the steps required to populate NIS+ tables. They assume the simplest case, so be sure you are familiar with the more thorough task descriptions before you use this summary as a reference. For brevity, these summaries do not show the server's responses to each command.

Table 8-1

Tasks	Commands
Log in to an NIS+ client. Create working copies of the files to be transferred. Add /usr/lib/nis to search path. Transfer each file, one at a time.	rootmaster% % cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.xfr % . % PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/nis; export PATH % nisaddent -m -f /etc/hosts.xfr hosts
Remove old server credentials from publickey file. Transfer it to the cred table. Transfer the automounter files.	% . % . % % vi /etc/publickey.xfer . % nisaddent -a -f /etc/publickey.xfr cred % nisaddent -f auto.master.xfr -t auto_master.org_dir key-value
Checkpoint the table directory.	% nisaddent -f auto.home.xfr -t auto_home.org_dir key-value % nisping -C org_dir

Table 8-2

Tasks	Commands
Log in to an NIS+ client. Add /usr/lib/nis to search path. Transfer each map, one at a time.	rootmaster% % PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/nis; export PATH % nisaddent -m -y oldwiz hosts % .
Dump publickey map to a file. Remove new credentials.	% . % . % makedbm -u /var/yp/oldwiz/publickey.byname > /etc/publickey.xfr % vi /etc/publickey.xfr
Transfer the publickey file. Transfer the automounter maps.	. % nisaddent -a -f /etc/publickey.xfr -t cred.ortg_dir publickey % nisaddent -y oldwiz -Y auto.master -t auto_master.org_dir key-
Checkpoint the table directory.	value % nisaddent -y oldwiz -Y auto.home -t auto_home.org_dir key-value % nisping -C org_dir
	Table 8-3 Transferring NIS+ Tables to NIS Maps: Command Summary
Tasks	Commands
Log in to NIS+ server. Transfer NIS+ tables to files.	dualserver% % /usr/lib/nis/nisaddent -d [-t table] tabletype > filename
Transfer files to NIS maps.	% . % . % . % makedbm flags output-file NIS-dbm-file
	Table 8-4 Limiting Acces to Passwd Column: Command Summary
Tasks	Commands
Log into the domain's master server. Check the table's existing rights. Assign the table new rights. Assign the columns new rights Verify the new rights.	rootmaster# # niscat -o passwd.org_dir # nischmod og=rmcd,nw= passwd.org_dir # nistbladm -u passwd=o+r, shadow=n+r passwd.org_dir # niscat -o passwd.org_dir