Ubuntu Manpage: ypbind - NIS binding process

NAME

       ypbind - NIS binding process

SYNOPSIS

       ypbind  [  -c  ] [ -d|-debug ] [ -broadcast ] [ -broken-server ] [ -ypset ] [ -ypsetme ] [
       -no-ping ] [ -f configfile ] [ -local-only ] [ -ping-interval ping-interval ] [ -no-dbus ]

       ypbind --version

DESCRIPTION

ypbind finds the server for NIS domains and maintains the NIS binding information. The
client (normally the NIS routines in the standard C library) could get the information
over RPC from ypbind or read the binding files. The binding files resides in the directory
/var/yp/binding and are conventionally named [domainname].[version]. The supported
versions are 1 and 2. There could be several such files since it is possible for an NIS
client to be bound to more than one domain.

After a binding has been established, ypbind will send YPPROC_DOMAIN requests to the
current NIS server at 20 seconds intervals. If it doesn't get an response or the NIS
server reports that he doesn't have this domain any longer, ypbind will search for a new
NIS server. All 15 minutes ypbind will check to see if the current NIS server is the
fastest. If it find a server which answers faster, it will switch to this server. You
could tell ypbind to use network broadcasts to find a new server, what is insecure, or you
could give it a list of known secure servers. In this case ypbind will send a ping to all
servers and binds to first one which answers.

Unless the option -debug is used, ypbind detaches itself from the controlling terminal and
puts itself into background. ypbind uses syslog(3) for logging errors and warnings. At
startup or when receiving signal SIGHUP, ypbind parses the file /etc/yp.conf and tries to
use the entries for its initial binding.

A broadcast entry in the configuration file will overwrite a ypserver/server entry and a
ypserver/server entry broadcast. If all given server are down, ypbind will not switch to
use broadcast. ypbind will try at first /etc/hosts and then DNS for resolving the hosts
names from /etc/yp.conf. If ypbind couldn't reconfigure the search order, it will use
only DNS. If DNS isn't available, you could only use IP-addresses in /etc/hosts. ypbind
could only reconfigure the search order with glibc 2.x. If the -broadcast option is
specified, ypbind will ignore the configuration file. If the file does not exist or if
there are no valid entries, ypbind exit.

This ypbind version listens for DBUS messages from NetworkManager. If no NetworkManager is
running at startup, ypbind will behave as usual and assumes there is a working network
connection. If NetworkManager is running on the system, ypbind will only search and
provide NIS informations, if NetworkManager tells that a network connection is available.
If NetworkManager establishes a connection, ypbind will reread all configuration files,
registers at the local portmapper and try to search NIS servers. If NetworkManager drops a
connection, ypbind will unregister from portmapper.

OPTIONS

-broadcast
Send a broadcast to request the information needed to bind to a specific NIS
server. With this option, /etc/yp.conf will be ignored.

-ypset Allow root from any remote machine to change the binding for a domain via the
ypset(8) command. By default, no one can change the binding. This option is really
insecure. If you change a binding for a domain, all the current known servers for
this domain will be forgotten. If the new server goes down, ypbind will use the old
searchlist.

-ypsetme
The same as -ypset, but only root on the local machine is allowed to change the
binding. Such requests are only allowed from loopback.

-c ypbind only checks if the config file has syntax errors and exits.

-debug starts ypbind in debug mode. ypbind will not put itself into background, and error
messages and debug output are written to standard error.

-broken-server
lets ypbind accept answers from servers running on an illegal port number. This
should usually be avoided, but is required by some ypserv(8) versions.

-no-ping
ypbind will not check if the binding is alive. This option is for use with dialup
connections to prevent ypbind from keeping the connection unnecessarily open or
causing autodials.

-f configfile
ypbind will use configfile and not /etc/yp.conf

-local-only
ypbind will only bind to the loopback device and is not reachable from a remote
network.

-ping-interval ping-interval
The default value for ypbind to check, if a NIS server is still reachable, is 20
seconds. With this options another frequency in seconds can be specified.

-no-dbus
Disables DBUS support if compiled int.

--version
Prints the version number

FILES

       /etc/yp.conf
              configuration file.

       /var/yp/binding/[domainname].[version]
              binding file containing information about each NIS domain.

       /var/run/ypbind.pid
              contains the process id of the currently running ypbind master process.

AUTHOR