Authentication
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Advanced Console Server
nsswitch.conf file format
The /etc/nsswitch.conf file has the following format:
<database> : <service> [ <actions> <service> ]
where:
<database> - available: aliases, ethers, group, hosts, netgroup, network, passwd, protocols,
publickey, rpc, services and shadow
<service> - available: nis (use NIS version 2) , dns (use Domain Name Service) and files (use
the local files)
<actions> - Has this format: [ <status> = <action> ]
where:
<status> = SUCCESS, NOTFOUND, UNAVAIL or TRYAGAIN
<action> = return or continue
SUCCESS - No error occurred and the desired entry is returned. The default action
for this status is 'return'
NOTFOUND - The lookup process works fine, but the needed value was not found.
The default action for this status is “continue.”
UNAVAIL - The service is permanently unavailable.
TRYAGAIN - The service is temporarily unavailable.
To use NIS only to authenticate users, you need to change the lines in
/etc/nsswitch.conf
that
reference passwd, shadow, and group.
Examples
1.
You wish to authenticate the user first in the local database. If the user is not found, then
use NIS:
passwd: files nis
shadow: files nis
group: files nis
2.
You wish to authenticate the user first using NIS. If the user is not found, then use the
local database:
passwd: nis file
shadow: nis files
group: nis files
3.
You wish to authenticate the user first using NIS. If the user was not found or the NIS
server is down, then use the local database:
passwd: nis [UNAVAIL=continue TRYAGAIN=continue] files
