/usr/lib/netsvc/yp/rpc.yppasswdd [-D directory]
 [-nogecos] [-noshell] [-nopw]
 [-m argument1 argument2...]

/usr/lib/netsvc/yp/rpc.yppasswdd
 [passwordfile [adjunctfile]]
 [-nogecos] [-noshell] [-nopw]
 [-m argument1 argument2...]

rpc.yppasswdd is a server that handles password change requests from yppasswd(1). It changes a password entry in the passwd, shadow, and security/passwd.adjunct files. The passwd and shadow files provide the basis for the passwd.byname and passwd.byuid maps. The passwd.adjunct file provides the basis for the passwd.adjunct.byname and passwd.adjunct.byuid maps. Entries in the passwd, shadow or passwd.adjunct files are changed only if the password presented by yppasswd(1) matches the encrypted password of the entry. All password files are located in the PWDIR directory.

If the -D option is given, the passwd, shadow, or passwd.adjunct files are placed under the directory path that is the argument to -D.

If the -noshell, -nogecos or -nopw options are given, these fields cannot be changed remotely using chfn, chsh, or passwd(1).

If the -m option is given, a make(1S) is performed in /var/yp after any of the passwd, shadow, or passwd.adjunct files are modified. All arguments following the flag are passed to make.

The second of the listed syntaxes is provided only for backward compatibility. If the second syntax is used, the passwordfile is the full pathname of the password file and adjunctfile is the full pathname of the optional passwd.adjunct file. If a shadow file is found in the same directory as passwordfile, the shadowfile is used as described above. Use of this syntax and the discovery of a shadowfile file generates diagnostic output. The daemon, however, starts normally.

The first and second syntaxes are mutually exclusive. You cannot specify the full pathname of the passwd, passwd.adjunct files and use the -D option at the same time.

The daemon is started automatically on the master server of the passwd map by ypstart(1M), which is invoked at boot time by the svcs:/network/nis/server:default service.

The server does not insist on the presence of a shadow file unless there is no -D option present or the directory named with the -D option is /etc. In addition, a passwd.adjunct file is not necessary. If the -D option is given, the server attempts to find a passwd.adjunct file in the security subdirectory of the named directory. For example, in the presence of -D /var/yp the server checks for a /var/yp/security/passwd.adjunct file.

If only a passwd file exists, then the encrypted password is expected in the second field. If both a passwd and a passwd.adjunct file exist, the encrypted password is expected in the second field of the adjunct file with ##username in the second field of the passwd file. If all three files are in use, the encrypted password is expected in the shadow file. Any deviation causes a password update to fail.

If you remove or add a shadow or passwd.adjunct file after rpc.yppasswdd has started, you must stop and restart the daemon to enable it to recognize the change. See ypstart(1m) for information on restarting the daemon.

The rpc.yppasswdd daemon considers a shell that has a name that begins with 'r' to be a restricted shell. By default, the daemon does not check whether a shell begins with an 'r'. However, you can tell it to do so by uncommenting the check_restricted_shell_name=1 line in /etc/default/yppasswdd. The result will be to restrict a user's ability to change from his default shell. See yppasswdd(4).

On start up, yppasswdd checks for the existence of a NIS to LDAP (N2L) configuration file, /var/yp/NISLDAPmapping. If the configuration file is present, the daemon runs in N2L mode. If the file is not present, yppasswdd runs in traditional, non-N2L mode.

In N2L mode, changes are written directly to the Directory Information Tree (DIT). If the changes are written successfully, the NIS map is updated. The NIS source files, passwd, shadow, and passwd.adjunct, for example, are not updated. Thus, in N2L mode, the -D option is meaningless. In N2L mode, yppasswdd propagates changes by calling yppush(1M) instead of ypmake(1M). The -m option is thus unused.

During an NIS-to-LDAP transition, the yppasswdd daemon uses the N2L-specific map, ageing.byname, to read and write password aging information to the DIT. If you are not using password aging, then the ageing.byname mapping is ignored.

svcs(1), make(1S), passwd(1), yppasswd(1), inetd(1M), svcadm(1M), ypmake(1M), yppush(1M), ypstart(1M), NISLDAPmapping(4), passwd(4), shadow(4), ypfiles(4), yppasswdd(4), ypserv(4), attributes(5), smf(5)

If make has not been installed and the -m option is given, the daemon outputs a warning and proceeds, effectively ignoring the -m flag.

When using the -D option, you should make sure that the PWDIR of the /var/yp/Makefile is set accordingly.

The second listed syntax is supplied only for backward compatibility and might be removed in a future release of this daemon.

The Network Information Service (NIS) was formerly known as Sun Yellow Pages (YP). The functionality of the two remains the same; only the name has changed. The name Yellow Pages is a registered trademark in the United Kingdom of British Telecommunications PLC, and cannot be used without permission.

The NIS server service is managed by the service management facility, smf(5), under the service identifier:

svcs:/network/nis/server:default

Administrative actions on this service, such as enabling, disabling, or requesting restart, can be performed using svcadm(1M). The service's status can be queried using the svcs(1) command.