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Lesson 5NIS Client Configuration with authconfig
Objective Use authconfig to configure an NIS client machine.

NIS client Configuration with authconfig

authconfig makes interfacing with the NIS system easy.
Once you are correctly communicating with the NIS system, you can use the network's preset information for usernames, passwords, hostnames, and other categories. To run authconfig, you must be logged in as root and type the full path, /usr/sbin/authconfig, unless /usr/sbin is in your PATH variable.

The authconfig interface

authconfig gives you the option to use NIS password files instead of local password files. This allows you to keep the same login information across the network. When you use NIS, you must specify your NIS domain and how to reach the NIS server.
There are two ways to specify the NIS server. You can instruct the computer to ask all hosts (broadcast[1]) on the subnet for NIS information. This method is not preferred because any computer that responds quickly enough will supply network information to your computer. A better way to configure each computer is with the IP address of the NIS server in use. Use the MouseOver below to browse through the options in authconfig.


authconfig 3.0.3 - (c) 1999 Red Hat, Inc.

authconfig Interface
The next lesson shows you how to use the command line to configure an NIS client.

[1] Broadcast: To send information to an IP address that all network hosts listen to. You can broadcast a message across an entire subnet.