Solaris Naming Setup and Configuration Guide

The nsswitch.conf File

Each workstation has a nsswitch.conf file in its /etc directory. Each line of that file identifies a particular type of network information, such as host, password, and group, followed by one or more sources, such as NIS+ tables, NIS maps, the DNS hosts table, or local /etc, where the client is to look for that information. For additional information on the nsswitch.conf file, see Solaris Naming Administration Guide.

An /etc/nsswitch.conf file is automatically loaded into every workstation's /etc directory by the Solaris 8 release software, along with the following alternate (template) versions:

These alternate template files contain the default switch configurations used by the NIS+ and NIS services, local files, and LDAP. No default file is provided for DNS, but you can edit any of these files to use DNS (see "Enabling a Machine to Use DNS"). When the Solaris operating environment is first installed on a workstation, the installer selects the workstation's default name service: NIS+, NIS, local files, or LDAP. During installation, the corresponding template file is copied to /etc/nsswitch.conf. For example, for a workstation client using NIS+, the installation process copies nsswitch.nisplus to nsswitch.conf.

If your network is connected to the Internet and you want users to be able to access Internet hosts using DNS, you must now enable DNS forwarding, as described in "Enabling a Machine to Use DNS".

Unless you have an unusual namespace, the default template file as copied to nsswitch.conf (with or without DNS, as described above) should be sufficient for normal operation.

Default NIS+ Version of Switch File

The NIS+ version of the switch file supplied with Solaris 7 release is named nsswitch.nisplus.


Example 1-1 Default nsswitch.nisplus File


#
# /etc/nsswitch.nisplus:
#
# An example file that could be copied over to /etc/nsswitch.conf;
# it uses NIS+ (NIS Version 3) in conjunction with files.
#
# "hosts:" and "services:" in this file are used only if the
# /etc/netconfig file has a "-" for nametoaddr_libs of "inet"
# transports.
 
# the following two lines obviate the "+" entry in /etc/passwd 
# and /etc/group.
passwd: files nisplus
group: files nisplus
# consult /etc "files" only if nisplus is down. 
hosts: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
# Uncomment the following line, and comment out the above, to use 
# both DNS and NIS+. You must also set up the /etc/resolv.conf 
# file for DNS name server lookup. See resolv.conf(4).
# hosts: nisplus dns [NOTFOUND=return] files
services: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
networks: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
protocols: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
rpc: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
ethers: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
netmasks: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files	
bootparams: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
publickey: nisplus
netgroup: nisplus
automount: files nisplus
aliases: files nisplus
sendmailvars: files nisplus

Default NIS Version of Switch File

The NIS version of the switch file supplied with Solaris 7 release is named nsswitch.nis.


Example 1-2 Default nsswitch.nis File


#
# /etc/nsswitch.nis:
#
# An example file that could be copied over to /etc/nsswitch.conf; it
# uses NIS (YP) in conjunction with files.
#
# "hosts:" and "services:" in this file are used only if the
# /etc/netconfig file has a "-" for nametoaddr_libs of "inet" transports.
# the following two lines obviate the "+" entry in /etc/passwd and /etc/group.
passwd: files nis
group: files nis
# consult /etc "files" only if nis is down. 
hosts: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
networks: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
protocols: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
rpc: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files

ethers: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
netmasks: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files	
bootparams: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
publickey: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
netgroup: nis
automount: files nis
aliases: files nis
# for efficient getservbyname() avoid nis
services: files nis
sendmailvars: files

Default Files Version of Switch File

The local files version of the switch file supplied with Solaris 7 release is named nsswitch.files.


Example 1-3 Default nsswitch.files File


#
# /etc/nsswitch.files:
#
# An example file that could be copied over to /etc/nsswitch.conf; it
# does not use any naming service.
#
# "hosts:" and "services:" in this file are used only if the
# /etc/netconfig file has a "-" for nametoaddr_libs of "inet" transports.
passwd: files
group: files
hosts: files
networks: files
protocols: files
rpc: files
ethers: files
netmasks: files	
bootparams: files
publickey: files
# At present there isn't a 'files' backend for netgroup; the system will 
# figure it out pretty quickly, and won't use netgroups at all.

netgroup: files
automount: files
aliases: files
services: files
sendmailvars: files

Default LDAP Version of Switch File

The LDAP version of the switch file supplied with Solaris operating environment is named nsswitch.ldap.


Example 1-4 LDAP Switch File Template


#
# /etc/nsswitch.ldap:
#
# An example file that could be copied over to /etc/nsswitch.conf; it
# uses LDAP in conjunction with files.
#
# "hosts:" and "services:" in this file are used only if the
# /etc/netconfig file has a "-" for nametoaddr_libs of "inet" transports.

# the following two lines obviate the "+" entry in /etc/passwd and /etc/group.
passwd:     files ldap
group:      files ldap

hosts:      ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files

networks:   ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files
protocols:  ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files
rpc:        ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files
ethers:     ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files
netmasks:   ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files
bootparams: ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files
publickey:  ldap [NOTFOUND=return] files

netgroup:   ldap

automount:  files ldap
aliases:    files ldap

# for efficient getservbyname() avoid ldap
services:   files ldap
sendmailvars:   files