21.3 NIS+

21.3.2 Objects

There are three types of objects:

directory objects which form the framework of the namespace
table objects which store the information
group objects which are used for security

The directory objects are at the top of the namespace. Directory objects contain the names, addresses, and authentication information for systems within the domain. Objects within the database are stored as children of the directory object. The directory object at the top of the hierarchy is known as the root directory. You can add directory objects beneath the root directory and beneath other directory objects.

The table objects identify table databases. The table object contains the scheme by which columns within the table can be identified and searched. Each table contains information about users, machines, or resources on the network. The normal set of 16 tables store information for:

hosts bootparams password cred
group netgroups mail aliases timezone
networks netmasks ethers services
protocols rpc auto.home auto.master

The group objects contain a list of members of the group. An NIS+ group is a collection of users and workstations identified by a single name. They are assigned access rights as a group. Essentially, this is used to set security.

All objects have a common set of properties. These are:

principal owner
group owner
access rights
unique id
time to live values

Also, each object type specifies information describing the type.

Link objects point to the name of another object.

Unix System Administration - 8 AUG 1996

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