netgroup(4)                                              netgroup(4)


       NAME
             netgroup - list of network groups

       SYNOPSIS
             /etc/netgroup

       DESCRIPTION
             The netgroup file defines network wide groups, used for
             permission checking when doing remote mounts, remote logins,
             and remote shells.

          Files
             /var/yp/domainname/netgroup.byhost      Corresponding NIS map
                                                     containing group
                                                     names, user names and
                                                     host names.  The host
                                                     name is the key in the
                                                     map.
             /var/yp/domainname/netgroup.byuser      Same as
                                                     netgroup.byhost,
                                                     except key is user
                                                     name instead of host
                                                     name.
             /var/yp/domainname/netgroup             Same as
                                                     netgroup.byhost,
                                                     except key is group
                                                     name instead of host
                                                     name.

       USAGE
             For remote mounts, the information in the netgroup file is
             used to classify machines; for remote logins and remote
             shells, it is used to classify users.

             Each line of the netgroup file defines a group and has the
             form:

                         groupname members

             where members is either another group name, or a triple:

                         (hostname, username, domainname)

             Any of these three fields can  be  empty,  in  which  case  it
             signifies a wild card.  Thus



                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1

      netgroup(4)                                              netgroup(4)


                        universal (,,)

            defines a group to which  everyone  belongs.   The  domainname
            field  must  either  be the local domain name or empty for the
            netgroup entry to be used.  Note  that  this  field  does  not
            limit  the netgroup or provide security.  The domainname field
            refers to the domain in which the triple is valid, not to  the
            domain containing the trusted host.

            A  gateway  machine  should  be  listed  under  all   possible
            hostnames by which it may be recognized:

                        wan (gateway,,) (gateway-ebb,,)

            Field names that begin with something  other  than  a  letter,
            digit  or  underscore  (such  as  ` - ') work in precisely the
            opposite  fashion.   For  example,  consider   the   following
            entries:

                        justmachines      (analytica,-,sun)
                        justpeople  (-,babbage,sun)

            The machine analytica belongs to the group justmachines in the
            domain  sun,  but  no users belong to it.  Similarly, the user
            babbage belongs to the group justpeople in the domain sun, but
            no machines belong to it.

            When the Network Information  Service  (NIS)  is  in  use,  it
            references  the  NIS  maps netgroup.byhost, netgroup.byuser or
            netgroup on the NIS server instead of /etc/netgroup.

         Warnings
            The triple (,, domain) allows all users and machines trusted
            access, and has the same effect as the triple (,,).  To
            correctly restrict access to a specific set of members, use
            the hostname and username fields of the triple.

      REFERENCES
            getnetgrent(3N), makedbm(1M), ypserv(1M)









                          Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 2