bootparams Table

The bootparams table stores configuration information about every diskless machine in a domain. A diskless machine is a machine that is connected to a network, but has no hard disk. Since it has no internal storage capacity, a diskless machine stores its files and programs in the file system of a server on the network. It also stores its configuration information--or boot parameters--on a server.

Because of this arrangement, every diskless machine has an initialization program that knows where this information is stored. If the network has no name service, the program looks for this information in the server's /etc/bootparams file. If the network uses the NIS+ name service, the program looks for it in the bootparams table, instead.

The bootparams table can store any configuration information about diskless machines. It has two columns: one for the configuration key, another for its value. By default, it is set up to store the location of each machine's root, swap, and dump partitions.

The default bootparams table has only two columns that provide the following items of information:

Table 23-3 bootparams Table

Input File Format

The columns are separated with a TAB character. Backslashes (\) are used to break a line within an entry. The entries for root, swap, and dump partitions have the following format:

client-name root=server:path \
swap=server:path \ 
dump=server:path \
install=server:path \
domain=domainname

Here is an example:

buckarooroot=bigriver:/export/root1/buckaroo \
 swap=bigriver:/export/swap1/buckaroo \
 dump=bigriver:/export/dump/buckaroo \
 install=bigriver:/export/install/buckaroo \
 domain=sales.doc.com

Additional parameters are available for x86-based machines. See the bootparams man page for additional information.

client_info Table

The client_info table is an optional internal NIS+ table used to store server preferences for the domain in which it resides. This table is created and maintained with the nisprefadm command.

Caution - Only use nisprefadm to work with this table. Do not use any other NIS+ commands on this table.

cred Table

The cred table stores credential information about NIS+ principals. Each domain has one cred table, which stores the credential information of client machines that belong to that domain and client users who are allowed to log into them. (In other words, the principals of that domain.) The cred tables are located in their domains' org_dir subdirectory.

Note - Do not link a cred table. Each org_dir directory should have its own cred table. Do not use a link to some other org_dir cred table.

The cred table has five columns:

Table 23-4 cred Table

The second column, authentication type, determines the types of values found in the other four columns.

• LOCAL. If the authentication type is LOCAL, the other columns contain a principal user's name, UID, and GID; the last column is empty.

• DES. If the authentication type is DES, the other columns contain a principal's name, Secure RPC netname, public key, and encrypted private key. These keys are used in conjunction with other information to encrypt and decrypt a DES credential.

See Chapter 12, Administering NIS+ Credentials for additional information on credentials and the cred table.

ethers Table

The ethers table stores information about the 48-bit Ethernet addresses of machines on the Internet. It has three columns:

Table 23-5 ethers Table

An Ethernet address has the form:

n:n:n:n:n:n hostname

where n is a hexadecimal number between 0 and FF, representing one byte. The address bytes are always in network order (most significant byte first).

group Table

The group table stores information about UNIX user groups. The group table has four columns:

Table 23-6 group Table

Earlier Solaris releases used a +/- syntax in local /etc/group files to incorporate or overwrite entries in the NIS group maps. Since the Solaris environment uses the name service switch file to specify a machine's sources of information, this is no longer necessary. All you have to do in Solaris Release 2x systems is edit a client's /etc/nsswitch.conf file to specify files, followed by nisplus as the sources for the group information. This effectively adds the contents of the group table to the contents of the client's /etc/group file.

hosts Table

The hosts table associates the names of all the machines in a domain with their IP addresses. The machines are usually also NIS+ clients, but they don't have to be. Other tables, such as bootparams, group, and netgroup, rely on the network names stored in this table. They use them to assign other attributes, such as home directories and group memberships, to individual machines. The hosts table has four columns:

Table 23-7 hosts Table

mail_aliases Table

The mail_aliases table lists the domain's mail aliases recognized by sendmail. It has four columns:

Table 23-8 mail_aliases Table

Input File Format

Each entry has the following format:

alias-name:member[,member]...

To extend an entry over several lines, use a backslash.

netgroup Table

The netgroup table defines network wide groups used to check permissions for remote mounts, logins, and shells. The members of net groups used for remote mounts are machines; for remote logins and shells, they are users.

Note - Users working on a client machine being served by an NIS+ server running in compatibility mode cannot run ypcat on the netgroup table. Doing so will give you results as if the table were empty even if it has entries.

The netgroup table has six columns:

Table 23-9 netgroup Table

Input File Format

The input file consists of a group name and any number of members:

groupname member-list...

The member list can contain the names of other net groups or an ordered member list with three fields or both:

member-list::=groupname | (hostname, username, domainname)

The first field of the member list specifies the name of a machine that belongs to the group. The second field specifies the name of a user that belongs to the group. The third field specifies the domain in which the member specification is valid.