ypbind(8)                                               ypbind(8)

NAME
       ypbind - NIS binding process

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/sbin/ypbind     [     -v|-version|--version    ]    [
       -d|-debug|--debug ] [ -ipc|--ipc  ]  [  -mmap|--mmap  ]  [
       -broken_server|--broken_server ] [ -ypset ] [ -ypsetme ] [
       -no-ping|--no-ping ]

DESCRIPTION
       ypbind finds the server for a NIS domain  and  stores  the
       information  about it in a binding file.  The binding file
       resides in the directory /var/yp/binding  and  is  conven-
       tionally  named  domainname.version.   The  only supported
       version is version 2.

       Unless the option -debug is used, ypbind  detaches  itself
       from  the  controlling terminal and puts itself into back-
       ground.  ypbind uses syslog() for logging errors and warn-
       ings.

       At  startup or when receiving signal SIGHUP, ypbind parses
       the file /etc/yp.conf and tries to use the entries for its
       initial binding. Valid entries are

       domain nisdomain server hostname
              Use server hostname for the domain nisdomain.

       domain nisdomain broadcast
              Use  broadcast  on  the local net for domain nisdo-
              main.

       ypserver hostname
              Use server server for the  local  domain.  The  IP-
              address of server must be listed in /etc/hosts.

       If  the  file  does  not  exist  of  if there are no valid
       entries, ypbind broadcasts on the local net looking for  a
       NIS server for the local domain.

       ypbind  is  split  into  two processes. The master process
       services RPC requests asking for binding info.  The  slave
       process  initializes  the  binding  and checks it periodi-
       cally. Upon failure, the binding is  invalidated  and  the
       process tries again to find a valid server.

OPTIONS
       -ypset ypset(8)  may  be  used to change the binding for a
              domain.

       -ypsetme
              ypset(8) may only be used from the  local  host  to
              change the binding for a domain.

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

       -ipc   lets ypbind use IPC for the master-slave communica-
              tion. It requires a kernel with  IPC  enabled.  You
              must use this, if your root-Filesystem is on NFS.

       -mmap  lets  ypbind use mmap for the master-slave communi-
              cation. This may fail with some older kernels.

       -broken_server
              lets ypbind accept answers from servers running  on
              an  illegal  port  number.  This  should usually be
              avoided, but is  required  on  Solaris  2.4  (there
              should be a patch for Solaris which fixes this bro-
              ken behaviour.)

       -no-ping
              prevents ypbind from continually  checking  if  the
              binding  is  alive. This option is intented for use
              with dialup  connections  to  prevent  ypbind  from
              keeping  the connection unnessecarily open or caus-
              ing autodials.

FILES
       /etc/yp.conf - configuration file.

       /var/yp/binding/domainname.version - binding file contain-
       ing information about domain.

       /var/run/ypbind.pid  - contains the process id of the cur-
       rently running ypbind master process.  ypbind sets a write
       lock  to  this  file  to prevent multiple copies of itself
       from running.

BUGS
       Binding to multiple domains is untested.  ypbind will only
       bind  to  one  single  server  per  domain.   Load sharing
       between multiple servers for a single domain is  not  sup-
       ported.

AUTHOR
       ypbind  was  written  by  Swen  Thuemmler <swen@uni-pader-
       born.de>. Michael  Rausch  <mrausch@ernie.mi.uni-koeln.de>
       added  support  for SysV-IPC. Numerous bugfixes from other
       contributors.

ypbind Version 3.3-glibc5    May 1997                           1