NIS Question

[Andrew Kaplan]

Hi there --

We have a system that has been added to a new subnet on our network. Our standard configuration has a workstation bind to a domain, but not to a specific server. This configuration works on our existing subnets that have NIS slave servers which, in turn, bind to the master server.

When we initially built the workstation using the standard configuration, the system could not bind to the NIS domain. However, if the workstation was bound to a specific server, slave or master, on any of the other subnets, then the binding was complete.

Is this normal, or did I miss something in the configuration? If it is the former, would it make sense to turn this workstation into an NIS slave server for this subnet, and have subsequent workstations that are configured to run on the same subnet bind to the domain in the manner which I described earlier?

[Steven Schweda · Accepted solution]

I don't remember dealing with NIS on multiple
subnets, but it seems reasonable (to me) to
guess that a broadcast search for NIS servers
won't go beyond the client's subnet.

> [...] would it make sense to turn this
> workstation into an NIS slave server [...]

Seems reasonable to me.

> [...] have subsequent workstations [...]

I'd assume that when you have a slave server
on the new subnet, other new clients on that
subnet would be able to find that server on
their own. (What could go wrong?)