Provided by: nis_3.17-32ubuntu6.1_amd64 bug

NAME

       ypxfr - transfer NIS database from remote server to local host

SYNOPSIS

       /usr/lib/yp/ypxfr [ -f ] [ -c ] [ -d target domain ]
            [ -h source host ] [ -s source domain ]
            [ -C taskid program-number ipaddr port ]
            [ -p yp_path ] mapname ...

DESCRIPTION

       ypxfr  copies  an  NIS  database  from  one  NIS server to the local host by using the NIS
       service.  ypxfr is generally invoked by ypinit or by ypserv, when ypserv  receives  a  map
       transfer  request from yppush.  It creates a temporary map in the directory /var/yp/domain
       (this  directory  must already  exist; domain is the  default  domainname  for  the  local
       host),  fills  it  by getting the map's entries and fetches the map parameters (master and
       order number).  If the transfer was successful, the old version of the map will be deleted
       and  the  temporary copy will be moved into its place.  Then, ypxfr will attempt to send a
       "clear current map" request to the local ypserv.

       If  run interactively, ypxfr writes its output to  stderr.   However,  if  it  is  invoked
       without a controlling terminal, it will log the output to syslog.

       ypxfr  is  used  primarily  in environments where several NIS servers are in use.  For all
       maps, you have a NIS master server, which  maintains a canonical copy of the NIS map,  and
       all  the  other  servers,  the NIS slaves, copy the new version of the map from the master
       whenever a update was made.  Normally, you have one NIS master for all maps.

       In order to maintain consistency across all NIS servers, ypxfr can be run periodically  in
       a  cron  job.  Maps  which change infrequently need only be updated once a day (preferably
       late at night when system usage is lowest), where those with  frequent  changes  (such  as
       passwd.byname  and passwd.byuid ) should be updated perhaps once every hour.  Examples are
       in /usr/lib/yp: ypxfr_1perday, ypxfr_2perday,  and  ypxfr_1perhour.   They  can  serve  as
       reasonable first cuts.

       Normally  all  updates  should be propagated by yppush when /var/yp/Makefile is run on the
       NIS master server, however it is a good practice on large networks where possible  outages
       could cause NIS slaves to fall out of sync with the master.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -f     Force a map transfer. Normally, ypxfr will not transfer a map if it determines that
              the NIS master's copy is not newer than the existing  copy  already  on  the  local
              host.  This  flag  forces  a  transfer regardless of which server's version is more
              recent.

       -c     Do not send a "clear current map" request to the  ypserv  process  running  on  the
              local  host.  This flag is normally used when invoking ypxfr by ypinit or if ypserv
              is not  running  locally  at  the time you are  running  ypxfr.   Otherwise,  ypxfr
              will complain that it cannot talk to the local ypserv, and the transfer will fail.

       -d domain
              Specify a domain other than the default NIS domain.

       -h source host
              Get  the  map from host, regardless of what the map says the master is.  If host is
              not specified, ypxfr asks the NIS service for the name of the master, and tries  to
              get  the  map from there. This option is used to insure that ypxfr only copies maps
              from the NIS master server.

       -s source domain
              Specify a source domain from which to transfer a map that should be the same across
              domains.

       -C taskid progam-number ipaddr port
              This  option  is  only for use by ypserv .  When ypserv invokes ypxfr, it specifies
              that ypxfr should call back a yppush process at the host with  IP  address  ipaddr,
              registered as program number progam-number, listening on port port, and waiting for
              a response to transaction taskid.

       -p yp_path
              Change the  directory  for  the  maps  to  yp_path/[domainname]/,  the  default  is
              /var/yp/[domainname].

       mapname
              One or more names of the map to transfer.

FILES

       /var/yp/[domainname]/[maps]

SEE ALSO

       ypserv(8), yppush(8), ypinit(8), cron(8), crontab(5)

AUTHOR

       Thorsten Kukuk <kukuk@suse.de>