Hi everyone,

I'd like to configure my NIS setup to use NIS as default and if it isn't available then to timeout and use the local files.

I know that /etc/nsswitch.conf is the file where I specify this, but I am unsure about how to specify it.

I was hoping what the different status/actions mean.

eg.
passwd nis [NOTFOUND=return] files

I am unsure what would happen here if NIS were working and if it wasn't.

There's also the action "continue". What does that mean?

Is there a way to specify a timeout in seconds (or minutes, etc)?

I realize that these are pretty basic questions, but every website that I've consulted so far provides more "computer-ese" answers rather than plain English.

Thanks in advance for help!

http://www.cs.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/man...sswitch.conf+5

I saw this.

Thanks, but it's not quite what I'm looking for.

eg.

passwd nis files

What does 'continue' mean? If NIS was down (so the value was not found) would the system then look to the local files (/etc/passwd) for authentication? Or would it do something else?

Thanks