Changing the user name search order

How search order is specified

Data ONTAP uses the /etc/nsswitch.conf file to specify the user name search order.

If the nsswitch.conf file does not already exist in the /etc directory, Data ONTAP creates a default nsswitch.conf file when NIS or LDAP authentication is enabled on your filer. The contents of the default nsswitch.conf file are as follows:

hosts: files nis dns

passwd: files nis

netgroup: files nis

group: files nis

shadow: files nis

Note
All entries in the nswitch.conf file except hosts pertain to user information maintenance. For information about the hosts map, see the Data ONTAP Network Administration Guide.

The default nsswitch.conf file searches for user information in the following order:

Configuration files in the /etc directory of the filer's default volume
NIS
Note
If you want to authenticate users through an LDAP database, add ldap to the passwd entry of the /etc/nsswitch.conf file. For details, see Editing the /etc/nsswitch.conf file for LDAP.

Changing the search order

To change the order in which Data ONTAP searches for user information, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Use a text editor to open the /etc/nsswitch.conf file.
2	Edit the file appropriately. Each line in the file must be in the following format: map: service ... map is one of the following: passwd, netgroup, group, shadow. service is one or more of the following: files, nis.
3	Save the file and exit the text editor.

Step

Action

Use a text editor to open the /etc/nsswitch.conf file.

Edit the file appropriately.

Each line in the file must be in the following format:

map: service ...

map is one of the following: passwd, netgroup, group, shadow.

service is one or more of the following: files, nis.

Save the file and exit the text editor.

Example

The following example shows an nsswitch.conf file. According to the search order specified in this file, Data ONTAP searches for user information (user name, password, and groups) using only NIS. However, Data ONTAP also looks up information in the /etc/netgroup file for the network groups if the NIS lookup fails.

passwd: nis

group: nis

netgroup: nis files

shadow: nis