Commands Reference, Volume 4

nisclient Command

Purpose

Initializes NIS+ credentials for NIS+ principals.

Syntax

Add DES Credentials for NIS+ Principals

nisclient -c [ -x ] [ -o ] [ -v ] [ -l network_password ] [ -d NIS+_domain ] client_name...

Initialize a NIS+ Client Machine

nisclient -i [ -x ] [ -v ] -h NIS+_server_host [ -a NIS+_server_addr ] [ -d NIS+_domain ] [ -S 0 | 2 ]

Initialize a NIS+ User

nisclient -u [ -x ] [ -v ]

Restore Network Service Environment

nisclient -r [ -x ]

Description

The nisclient command can be used to:

• Create NIS+ credentials for hosts and users
• Initialize NIS+ hosts and users
• Restore the network service environment

NIS+ credentials are used to provide authentication information of NIS+ clients to NIS+ service.

Use the first syntax ( -c) to create individual NIS+ credentials for hosts or users. You must be logged in as a NIS+ principal in the domain for which you are creating the new credentials. You must also have write permission to the local credential table. The client_name argument accepts any valid host or user name in the NIS+ domain (for example, the client_name must exist in the hosts or passwd table). The nisclient command verifies each client_name against both the host and passwd tables, then adds the proper NIS+ credentials for hosts or users.

Note: If you are creating NIS+ credentials outside your local domain, the host or user must exist in the host or passwd tables in both the local and remote domains.

By default, nisclient will not overwrite existing entries in the credential table for the hosts and users specified. To overwrite, use the -o flag. After the credentials have been created, nisclient will print the command that must be executed on the client machine to initialize the host or the user. The -c flag requires a network password for the client which is used to encrypt the secret key for the client. You can either specify it on the command line with the -l flag or the script will prompt you for it. You can change this network password later with either the nispasswd or chkey command.

The -c flag is not intended to be used to create NIS+ credentials for all users and hosts that are defined in the passwd and hosts tables. To define credentials for all users and hosts, use the nispopulate command.

Use the second syntax ( -i) to initialize a NIS+ client machine. The -i flag can be used to convert machines to use NIS+ or to change the machine's domainname. You must be logged in as superuser on the machine that is to become a NIS+ client. Your administrator must have already created the NIS+ credential for this host by using the nisclient -c or nispopulate -C command. You will need the network password your administrator created. The nisclient command will prompt you for the network password to decrypt your secret key and then for this machine's root login password to generate a new set of secret/public keys. If the NIS+ credential was created by your administrator using nisclient -c, then you can simply use the initialization command that was printed by the nisclient script to initialize this host instead of typing it manually.

To initialize an unauthenticated NIS+ client machine, use the -i flag with -S 0. With these flags, the nisclient -i flag will not ask for any passwords.

During the client initialization process, files that are being modified are backed up as files.no_nisplus. The files that are usually modified during a client initialization are: /etc/defaultdomain, /etc/nsswitch.conf, /etc/inet/hosts, and, if it exists, /var/nis/NIS_COLD_START.

Note: A file will not be saved if a backup file already exists.

The -i flag does not set up a NIS+ client to resolve hostnames using DNS. Refer to the DNS documentation for information on setting up DNS. (See information on the resolv.conf) file format.

It is not necessary to initialize either NIS+ root master servers or machines that were installed as NIS+ clients.

Use the third syntax ( -u) to initialize a NIS+ user. You must be logged in as the user on a NIS+ client machine in the domain where your NIS+ credentials have been created. Your administrator should have already created the NIS+ credential for your username using the nisclient or nispopulate command. You will need the network password your administrator used to create the NIS+ credential for your username. The nisclient command will prompt you for this network password to decrypt your secret key and then for your login password to generate a new set of secret/public keys.

Use the fourth syntax ( -r) to restore the network service environment to whatever you were using before nisclient -i was executed. You must be logged in as superuser on the machine that is to be restored. The restore will only work if the machine was initialized with nisclient -i because it uses the backup files created by the -i flag.

Reboot the machine after initializing a machine or restoring the network service.

Flags

Examples

1. To add the DES credential for host dilbert and user fred in the local domain, enter:

   nisclient -c dilbert fred

2. To add the DES credential for host dilbert and user fred in domain xyz.ibm.com., enter:

   nisclient -c -d xyz.ibm.com. dilbert fred

3. To initialize host dilbert as a NIS+ client in domain xyz.ibm.com. where nisplus_server is a server for the domain xyz.ibm.com., enter:

   nisclient -i -h nisplus_server -d xyz.ibm.com.

   The script will prompt you for the IP address of nisplus_server if the server is not found in the /etc/hosts file. The -d flag is needed only if your current domain name is different from the new domain name.

4. To initialize host dilbert as an unauthenticated NIS+ client in domain xyz.ibm.com. where nisplus_server is a server for the domain xyz.ibm.com., enter:

   nisclient -i -S 0 -h nisplus_server -d xyz.ibm.com. -a 129.140.44.1

5. To initialize user fred as a NIS+ principal, log in as user fred on a NIS+ client machine by entering:

   nisclient -u

Files

Related Information

The chkey command, keylogin command, keyserv command, nisaddcred command, nisinit command, nispopulate command.

resolv.conf file format.