Transitioning From NIS to LDAP (Overview/Tasks)

This chapter describes how to enable support of NIS clients that use naming information stored in the LDAP directory. By following the procedures in this chapter, you can transition from using an NIS naming service to using LDAP naming services.

To determine the benefits of transitioning to LDAP, see LDAP Naming Services Compared to Other Naming Services.

The following information is included in this chapter.

• NIS-to-LDAP Service Overview

• Transitioning From NIS to LDAP (Task Map)

• Prerequisites for the NIS-to-LDAP Transition

• Setting Up the N2L Service

• N2L Best Practices With Sun ONE Directory Server

• N2L Restrictions

• N2L Troubleshooting

• Reverting to NIS

NIS-to-LDAP Service Overview

Enabling the NIS-to-LDAP transition service (N2L service) requires reconfiguring the NIS daemons on the NIS master server. The N2L service is enabled if the daemons find a NIS-to-LDAP mapping file on the master server. The mapping file specifies the mapping between NIS map entries and equivalent Directory Information Tree (DIT) entries in LDAP. An NIS master server that has gone through this transition is referred to as an N2L server. The slave servers do not have an NISLDAPmapping file, so they continue to function in the usual manner. The slave servers periodically update their data from the N2L server as if it were a regular NIS master.

The behavior of the N2L service is controlled by the ypserv and NISLDAPmapping configuration files. A script, inityp2l, assists with the initial setup of these configuration files. Once the N2L server has been established, you can maintain N2L by directly editing the configuration files.

The N2L service supports the following:

• Import of NIS maps into the LDAP Directory Information Tree (DIT)

• Client access to DIT information with the speed and extensibility of NIS

In any naming system, only one source of information can be the authoritative source. In traditional NIS, NIS sources are the authoritative information. When using the N2L service, the source of authoritative data is the LDAP directory. The directory is managed by using directory management tools, as described in Chapter 13, Basic Components and Concepts (Overview).

NIS sources are retained for emergency backup or backout only. After using the N2L service, you can gradually phase out NIS clients. Eventually, all NIS clients can be replaced by Solaris LDAP naming services clients.

Additional overview information is provided in the following subsections:

• N2L Audience Assumptions

• When Not to Use the N2L Service

• Effects of the N2L Service on Users

• NIS-to-LDAP Transition Terminology

• N2L Commands and Files

• Supported Standard Mappings

N2L Audience Assumptions

You need to be familiar with NIS and LDAP concepts, terminology, and IDs to perform the procedures in this chapter. For more information about the NIS and LDAP naming services, see the following sections of this book.

• Chapter 7, Network Information Service (NIS) (Overview), for an overview of NIS

• Chapter 12, Introduction to LDAP Naming Services (Overview/Reference), for an overview of LDAP

When Not to Use the N2L Service

Do not use the N2L service in these situations:

• In an environment where there is no plan to share data between NIS and LDAP naming services clients

  In such an environment, an N2L server would serve as an excessively complex NIS master server.

• In an environment where NIS maps are managed by tools that modify the NIS source files (other than yppasswd)

  Regeneration of NIS sources from DIT maps is an imprecise task that requires manual checking of the resulting maps. Once the N2L service is used, regeneration of NIS sources is provided only for backout or reverting to NIS.

• In an environment with no NIS clients

  In such an environment, use Solaris LDAP naming services clients and their corresponding tools.

Effects of the N2L Service on Users

Simply installing the files that are related to the N2L service does not change the NIS server's default behavior. At installation, the administrator will see some changes to NIS man pages and the addition of N2L helper scripts, inityp2l and ypmap2src, on the servers. But as long as inityp2l is not run or the N2L configuration files are not created manually on the NIS server, the NIS components continue to start in traditional NIS mode and function as usual.

After inityp2l is run, users see some changes in server and client behavior. Following is a list of NIS and LDAP user types and a description of what each type of user should notice after the N2L service is deployed.