🚀 go-pugleaf

pdm124@rsphy4.anu.edu.au (Peter David Miller) writes:

>Hello Linux Gurus:
>	I have been trying to get NIS client software to run on a Linux
>box that is part of an otherwise successful network.  The ypbind daemon
>is running, and ypcat and ypmatch both work fine, retrieving correctly
>the password file from the NIS server.  The trouble is, users with entries
>in the NIS passwd file still can't login.  Reading the NIS HOW-TO reveals
>this cryptic comment:

[...]

>I am indeed using a newer version of libc.  So the question is, exactly
>what line do I need to add to /etc/passwd?  I mean, how should I interpret
>"+@this_machine_users"?

You can ignore it, if you do not use netgroups. If you do, you can define a
netgroup which contains all users you do wish to allow access to your
machine, e.g.:

powerusers: (,joe,) (,fred,) (,pdm124,)

(this entry goes into /etc/netgroup on your NIS-Server)

Then, in /etc/passwd, you can use
+@powerusers
to allow access for joe, fred and pdm124. 

Alternatively, you could put
+joe
+fred
+pdm124
into /etc/passwd, but netgroups can be centrally administered, so if later
you mistrust joe, but trust mary, you could change the netgroup, which is
easier than changing /etc/passwd on all your clients.


To your original question: The line you should add to /etc/passwd is:

+

(yes, that is a single plus sign on a line by itself). You probably have an
entry like 
+:*:0:0:::
This is wrong with newer libcs, since this entry would overwrite the passwd
field of every user with a "*". If finger -m user does work, this may be
your problem.

Hope this helps.

--Swen