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Queue Tasks

Host Manager enables you to queue tasks such as converting system types and adding OS services. Because these tasks may require several minutes to process, Host Manager enables you to set up tasks to be performed without requiring you to wait for each task to be completed. After setting up the tasks and choosing Save Changes from the File menu, you can monitor the progress of the tasks in a status bar located at the bottom of the window.

Set Root Passwords

You can now set the root password just as you do when setting the group or user password when adding a Solstice AutoClient or Solaris diskless client using Host Manager.

Enable Scripts

When you add a Solstice AutoClient by using Host Manager, you have the option to enable scripts that you have created to customize the addition or deletion of AutoClient systems. You can run these scripts on the server before or after you add the AutoClient to the server, or on the client before or after the cache is configured on the AutoClient.

Scripts must be located in the /opt/SUNWadmd/Scripts directory so that the AdminSuite software can read them.

Adding a Multihomed Host

Host Manager enables you to add a multihomed host alias for servers with multiple network interfaces. If a server has more than one IP address because it is on multiple networks, it is considered a multihomed host. With Host Manager, you can specify more than one IP address for a host to make it a multihomed host.

Restrictions of Host Manager

Host Manager has the following limitations:

  Host Manager cannot automatically recognize all previously added system types.
  Host Manager cannot add SunOS 4.x service to an OS server.
  Host Manager cannot provide remote installation services for SunOS 4.x systems.
  Host Manager does not enable you to install patches on existing clients and servers. However, if you have used the admclientpatch command to set up a patch spool directory, Host Manager references this spool directory and adds appropriate patches for all new hosts.

Using NIS+ Tables

NIS+ tables correspond to NIS maps. The Solaris 2.x environment provides 16 types of tables (shown in Figure 5-1) that store the network information used by NIS+.


Figure 5-1  The 16 NIS+ tables.

Each table stores a different type of information about users, workstations, or resources on the network. For instance, the Hosts table stores the hostname and network address of every workstation in the domain; the Bootparams table stores the location of the root, swap, and dump directories of the diskless clients in the domain.

Each domain may have its own set of these NIS+ tables, which store all the NIS+ information for that particular domain. Table 5-2 lists the 16 NIS+ tables and the information they store.

Table 5-2 NIS+ Tables

Table Information in the Table
Hosts Network address and hostname of every workstation in the domain
Bootparams Location of the root, swap, and dump partition of every diskless client in the domain
Password Password information about every NIS+ principal in the domain, plus a pointer to the shadow file
Cred Credentials for principals who have permission to access the information or objects in the domain
Group Password, group ID, and members of every group in the domain
Netgroup The netgroups to which workstations and users in the domain may belong
Aliases Information about the aliases of workstations in the domain
Timezone The time zone of every workstation in the domain
Networks The networks in the domain and their canonical names
Netmasks The networks in the domain and their associated netmasks
Ethers The Ethernet address of every workstation in the domain
Services The names of IP services used in the domain and their port numbers
Protocols The list of IP protocols used in the domain
RPC The RPC program numbers for RPC services available in the domain
Auto_Home The location of all users' home directories in the domain
Auto_Master Automounter map information

You can access information in NIS+ tables either by entry row or by column, as shown in Figure 5-2


Figure 5-2  Entry row and columns in a table.

For example, if you want to find the network address of a workstation named drusilla, you can ask a search program to look through the hostname column until it finds drusilla, as shown in Figure 5-3. The program then searches the drusilla entry row to find its network address, as shown in Figure 5-4


Figure 5-3  Searching the Hostname column.


Figure 3-4  Finding a network.

You can use either NIS+ commands or Solstice AdminSuite to perform these types of searches for you. Table 5-3 lists the NIS+ administrative commands.

Table 5-3 NIS+ Administrative Commands

Command Description
nistbladm Displays, adds, modifies, and deletes information in an NIS+ table
nisgrep Searches for information in an NIS+ table
nismatch Searches for information in an NIS+ table
niscat Displays the entire contents of an NIS+ table

See the manual pages for information about how to use these commands.

NIS+ Security

NIS+ uses a security authorization model that is similar to the UNIX file system model. It specifies that each item in the namespace as well as each record, each column, and each row has associated with it a set of access rights that are granted to three broad classes of principals:

  The owner of the item
  A group owner of the item
  All other principals

The specific access rights are different from the traditional read, write, and execute rights of file systems because of the nature of information services. Refer to your system manual for more information about NIS+ security.


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