About ONTAP name service switch configuration in System Manager - ONTAP 9.7 and earlier
ONTAP System Manager classic (available in ONTAP 9.7 and earlier) stores name service configuration information in a table that is the equivalent of the /etc/nsswitch.conf
file on UNIX systems. You must understand the function of the table and how ONTAP uses it so that you can configure it appropriately for your environment.
The ONTAP name service switch table determines which name service sources ONTAP consults in which order to retrieve information for a certain type of name service information. ONTAP maintains a separate name service switch table for each SVM.
Database types
The table stores a separate name service list for each of the following database types:
Database type | Defines name service sources for… | Valid sources are… |
---|---|---|
hosts |
Converting host names to IP addresses |
files, dns |
group |
Looking up user group information |
files, nis, ldap |
passwd |
Looking up user information |
files, nis, ldap |
netgroup |
Looking up netgroup information |
files, nis, ldap |
namemap |
Mapping user names |
files, ldap |
Source types
The sources specify which name service source to use for retrieving the appropriate information.
Specify source type… | To look up information in… | Managed by the command families… |
---|---|---|
files |
Local source files |
|
nis |
External NIS servers as specified in the NIS domain configuration of the SVM |
|
ldap |
External LDAP servers as specified in the LDAP client configuration of the SVM |
|
dns |
External DNS servers as specified in the DNS configuration of the SVM |
|
Even if you plan to use NIS or LDAP for both data access and SVM administration authentication, you should still include files
and configure local users as a fallback in case NIS or LDAP authentication fails.
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