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 cur­
       rent map" request to the local ypserv.

       If  run interactively, ypxfr writes it's 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 rea­
       sonable 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.

       The following options are supported:

       -f     Force a map  transfer.  Normally,  ypxfr  will  not
              transfer  a  map if it determines that the NIS mas­
              ter'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 com­
              plain 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 mas­
              ter,  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    diretory    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)

       Thorsten Kukuk <kukuk@suse.de>


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