xref: /netbsd-src/external/bsd/libbind/dist/doc/irs.conf.5 (revision 5bbd2a12505d72a8177929a37b5cee489d0a1cfd)
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17.\" Id: irs.conf.5,v 1.3 2009/01/22 23:49:23 tbox Exp
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19.Dd November 16, 1997
20.Dt IRS.CONF 5
21.Os BIND 8.1
22.Sh NAME
23.Nm irs.conf
24.Nd Information Retrieval System configuration file
25.Sh SYNOPSIS
26.Nm irs.conf
27.Sh DESCRIPTION
28The
29.Xr irs 3
30functions are a set of routines in the C library which provide access to
31various system maps.
32The maps that irs currently controls are the following: passwd, group,
33services, protocols, hosts, networks and netgroup.
34When a program first calls a function that accesses one of these maps,
35the irs configuration file is read,
36and the source of each map is determined for the life of the process.
37.Pp
38If this file does not exist,
39the irs routines default to using local sources for all information,
40with the exception of the host and networks maps,
41which use the Domain Name System (DNS).
42.Pp
43Each record in the file consists of one line.
44A record consists of a map-name, an access-method and possibly a (comma
45delimited) set of options,
46separated by tabs or spaces.
47Blank lines, and text between a # and a newline are ignored.
48.Pp
49Available maps:
50.Bd -literal -offset indent
51Map name	Information in map
52=========	==================================
53passwd          User authentication information
54group           User group membership information
55services        Network services directory
56protocols       Network protocols directory
57hosts           Network hosts directory
58networks        Network "network names" directory
59netgroup        Network "host groups" directory
60.Ed
61.Pp
62Available access methods:
63.Bd -literal -offset indent
64Access method	Description
65=============	=================================================
66local           Use a local file, usually in /etc
67dns             Use the domain name service (includes hesiod)
68nis             Use the Sun-compatible Network Information Service
69irp		Use the IRP daemon on the localhost.
70.Ed
71.Pp
72Available options:
73.Bd -literal -offset indent
74Option		Description
75========	================================================
76continue        don't stop searching if you can't find something
77merge           don't stop searching if you CAN find something
78.Ed
79.Pp
80The continue option creates
81.Dq "union namespaces"
82whereby subsequent access methods of the same map type can be tried
83if a name cannot be found using earlier access methods.
84This can be quite confusing in the case of host names,
85since the name to address and address to name mappings can be visibly
86asymmetric even though the data used by any given access method is
87entirely consistent.  This behavior is, therefore, not the default.
88.Pp
89The merge option only affects lookups in the groups map.
90If set, subsequent access methods will be tried in order to cause
91local users to appear in NIS (or other remote) groups in addition
92to the local groups.
93.Sh EXAMPLE
94.Bd -literal -offset indent
95# Get password entries from local file, or failing that, NIS
96passwd          local	continue
97passwd		nis
98
99# Build group membership from both local file, and NIS.
100group		local	continue,merge
101group		nis
102
103# Services comes from just the local file.
104services	local
105
106protocols	local
107
108# Hosts comes first from DNS, failing that, the local file
109hosts		dns	continue
110hosts		local
111
112# Networks comes first from the local file, and failing
113# that the, irp daemon
114networks	local	continue
115networks	irp
116
117netgroup        local
118.Ed
119.Sh NOTES
120If a local user needs to be in the local host's
121.Dq wheel
122group but not in every host's
123.Dq wheel
124group, put them in the local host's
125.Pa /etc/group
126.Dq wheel
127entry and set up the
128.Dq groups
129portion of your
130.Pa /etc/irs.conf
131file as:
132.Bd -literal -offset indent
133group   local   continue,merge
134group   nis
135.Ed
136.Pp
137NIS takes a long time to time out.
138Especially for hosts if you use the
139.Fl d
140option to your server's
141.Dq ypserv
142daemon.
143.Pp
144It is important that the
145.Pa irs.conf
146file contain an entry for each map.
147If a map is not mentioned in the
148.Pa irs.conf
149file, all queries to that map will fail.
150.Pp
151The classic NIS mechanism for specifying union namespaces is to add an entry
152to a local map file whose name is ``+''.  In IRS, this is done via ``continue''
153and/or ``merge'' map options.  While this results in a small incompatibility
154when local map files are imported from non-IRS systems to IRS systems, there
155are compensating advantages in security and configurability.
156.Sh FILES
157.Bl -tag -width /etc/irs.confXXXX -compact
158.It Pa /etc/irs.conf
159The file
160.Nm irs.conf
161resides in
162.Pa /etc .
163.El
164.Sh SEE ALSO
165.Xr groups 5 ,
166.Xr hosts 5 ,
167.Xr netgroup 5 ,
168.Xr networks 5 ,
169.Xr passwd 5 ,
170.Xr protocols 5 ,
171.Xr services 5
172