From fernan@pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar Mon Oct 24 17:56:31 2005 Return-Path: Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EBCD116A41F for ; Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:56:31 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from fernan@pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar) Received: from smtp.unsam.edu.ar (smtp.unsam.edu.ar [170.210.48.3]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B59D443D64 for ; Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:56:25 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from fernan@pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar) Received: from pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar (pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar [192.168.10.11]) by smtp.unsam.edu.ar (8.12.6/8.12.6) with ESMTP id j9OHtU7Z058052 for ; Mon, 24 Oct 2005 14:55:30 -0300 (ART) (envelope-from fernan@pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar) Received: from pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id j9OHtjVv051143 for ; Mon, 24 Oct 2005 14:55:45 -0300 (ART) (envelope-from fernan@pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar) Received: (from fernan@localhost) by pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar (8.13.1/8.13.1/Submit) id j9OHtjFl051142; Mon, 24 Oct 2005 14:55:45 -0300 (ART) (envelope-from fernan) Message-Id: <200510241755.j9OHtjFl051142@pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 14:55:45 -0300 (ART) From: Fernan Aguero Reply-To: Fernan Aguero To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org Cc: Subject: Chapter on NIS/YP lacks good information on adding new users X-Send-Pr-Version: 3.113 X-GNATS-Notify: >Number: 87936 >Category: docs >Synopsis: Handbook chapter on NIS/YP lacks good information on adding new users >Confidential: no >Severity: non-critical >Priority: low >Responsible: freebsd-doc >State: open >Quarter: >Keywords: handbook >Date-Required: >Class: change-request >Submitter-Id: current-users >Arrival-Date: Mon Oct 24 18:00:27 GMT 2005 >Closed-Date: >Last-Modified: Tue Aug 31 22:15:17 UTC 2010 >Originator: Fernan Aguero >Release: FreeBSD 4.10-RELEASE i386 >Organization: IIB-UNSAM >Environment: FreeBSD pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar 4.10-RELEASE FreeBSD 4.10-RELEASE #0: Wed May 26 12:56:43 ART 2004 fernan@pi.iib.unsam.edu.ar:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/PI i386 >Description: Section 4 of Chapter 24 of the FreeBSD Handbook describes the NIS/YP system and guides users on setting up NIS master servers, slave servers and clients. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/network-nis.html However, upon trying to follow the instructions on the handbook, it is apparent that some information regarding the addition of new users is lacking. After having set up NIS (at least a master server and a client), there is a section on 'Important things to remember' that address the issue of adding new users. I've found this information confusing. It correctly tells you that you should only add new users to the master NIS server. But it does not tell you WHERE you should add the new users. Should you use vipw and edit /etc/master.passwd? Or should you edit /var/yp/master.passwd? The answer is obvious for any experienced NIS user, but it's not for someone who has not used NIS before. Also, the example that follows seems to be misleading (pw useradd jsmith ...) If you run it without modification the new user would not be allowed to log in into NIS clients (i.e. it will not be propagated). This is because the new user will be added to /etc/master.passwd, while /var/yp/master.passwd will remain unchanged. This works only if you want to add new 'local' users. The chapter lacks information regarding how to create new 'network' users (those that will be allowed to log in into other NIS clients). See these threads for the kind of confusion that arises: http://docs.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=919628+0+archive/2002/freebsd-questions/20021124.freebsd-questions http://docs.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=71924+0+archive/1999/freebsd-isp/19990711.freebsd-isp Perhaps a note could be added clarifying this and mentioning the possible use of 'pw -V /var/yp' when adding new users? >How-To-Repeat: >Fix: >Release-Note: >Audit-Trail: >Unformatted: