System Administration Commands                           nscd(1M)

NAME
     nscd - name service cache daemon

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/sbin/nscd     [-f configuration-file]      [-g]      [-
     e cachename, yes | no]  [-i cachename]

DESCRIPTION
     nscd is a process that provides a cache for the most  common
     name   service   requests.  The  default  configuration-file
     /etc/nscd.conf determines the behavior of the cache  daemon.
     See nscd.conf(4).

     nscd provides caching for the passwd(4), group(4), hosts(4),
     ipnodes(4),  exec_attr(4),  prof_attr(4),  and  user_attr(4)
     databases  through  standard  libc   interfaces,   such   as
     gethostbyname(3NSL),               getipnodebyname(3SOCKET),
     gethostbyaddr(3NSL), and others. Each cache has  a  separate
     time-to-live  for  its  data;  modifying  the local database
     (/etc/hosts, /etc/resolv.conf, and  so  forth)  causes  that
     cache  to become invalidated upon the next call to nscd. The
     shadow file is specifically not cached.  getspnam(3C)  calls
     remain uncached as a result.

     nscd also  acts  as  its  own  administration  tool.  If  an
     instance  of nscd is already running, commands are passed to
     the running version transparently.

     In order to preserve NIS+ security, the nscd service  checks
     the  permissions  on the passwd table if NIS+ is being used.
     If this table cannot be read by unauthenticated users,  then
     nscd  will make sure that any encrypted password information
     returned from the NIS+ server is supplied only to the  owner
     of that password.

OPTIONS
     Several of the options described below require  a  cachename
     specification.  Supported  values  are passwd, group, hosts,
     ipnodes, exec_attr, prof_attr, and user_attr.

     -f configuration-file   Causes nscd to read  its  configura-
                             tion data from the specified file.



     -g                      Prints  current  configuration   and
                             statistics  to standard output. This
                             is the  only  option  executable  by
                             non-root users.



     -e cachename, yes|no    Enables or  disables  the  specified
                             cache.



     -i cachename            Invalidate the specified cache.



EXAMPLES
     Example 1: Stopping and restarting the nscd daemon.

     example# svcadm disable system/name-service-cache

     example# svcadm enable system/name-service-cache

FILES
     /etc/nscd.conf          Determines  athe  behavior  of   the
                             cache daemon



ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWcsu                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO
     svcs(1),  svcadm(1M),   getspnam(3C),   gethostbyname(3NSL),
     getipnodebyname(3SOCKET),  exec_attr(4), group(4), hosts(4),
     ipnodes(4),   nscd.conf(4),   nsswitch.conf(4),   passwd(4),
     prof_attr(4), user_attr(4), attributes(5),

NOTES
     The output from the -g option to nscd is subject to  change.
     Do not rely upon it as a programming interface.

     The nscd service is managed by the service management facil-
     ity, smf(5), under the service identifier:

     svc:/system/name-service-cache

     Administrative actions on this service,  such  as  enabling,
     disabling,  or  requesting  restart,  can be performed using
     svcadm(1M). The service's status can be  queried  using  the
     svcs(1) command.