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