This is a snapshot release of the NIS+ interface to Perl 5. There are two parts to the interface: the raw component (Net::NISPlus), and the object-oriented component (Net::NISPlus::Table, Net::NISPlus::Directory, Net::NISPlus::Group).

The object-oriented interface is used to simplify access to the NIS+ databases. See the example programs in the 't' subdirectory for examples on how to use the object-oriented interface.

A 'tie'd interface is planned.

There is only a small amount of pod documentation at this stage.

INSTALLATION

To compile the NISPlus package:

Unpack the distribution file. It will create its own directory.
cd NISPlus-0.06-alpha
perl Makefile.PL
make
run some tests

Notes

I have tried to write the tests so that they will work anywhere. The t/create.t test will create tables beginning with perltestwhich you can safely 'nistbladm -d' after testing. Testing will currently fail the 'indexed passwd test', because I haven't finished implementing that part yet.

when you are happy with the extension, you can type:

6. make install

to install it on your system

IMPORT/EXPORT:

Some of the more useful utilities in the t directory are the table.export and table.import utilities. I use them for backing up my NIS+ databases in a readable form, making search-and-replace type changes to NIS+ tables, and for rebuilding NIS+ systems from scratch.

table.export <tablename> <outputfile>
table.import <tablename> <inputfile>

For table.import, you need to specify the fuly qualified table name, including the '.' at the end.

If you are rebuilding NIS+ from scratch, dump all tables with table.export, reinitialise NIS+, edit the exported cred table to make sure the root master cred key is not in it (you don't want to write over your new root master key, do you?), then import all tables with table.import.

NOTE: Use these utilities at your own risk. There is minimal error checking, and if you trash your NIS+ tables, I will not be responsible.

BUGS

The code has been tested on

perl5.003_22 under Solaris 2.4

This is alpha code. This means:

the interfaces may change
it may not even work for you

Please report any bugs in the code or documentation to perl-nis@lists.fulcrum.com.au. I encourage anyone using the alpha or beta versions of the NIS or NIS+ interfaces to subscribe to the mailing list. You can subscribe by sending the message 'subscribe perl-nis' in the body of a message to majordomo@lists.fulcrum.com.au. The list is intended to be a discussion/announcement list for all things to do with the NIS and NIS+ perl extensions.

have fun,
rik. (1997-05-05)