The NIS subsystem allows network management of passwd and group file entries through the functions
getpwent(3) and
getgrent(3). NIS also provides hooks for other client programs, such as
amd(8) and
rpc.bootparamd(8), that can use NIS maps.
Password maps in standard YP are insecure, because the pw_passwd field is accessible by any user. A common solution to this is to generate a secure map (using “makedbm -s”) which can only be accessed by a client bound to a privileged port. To activate the secure map, see the appropriate comment in
/var/yp/Makefile.yp.
The NIS subsystem is conditionally started in
/etc/rc. See the
/etc/rc.conf file for configuration variables.