Networking Guide
Chapter 7, Configuring the Network Information Service (NIS)

Special NIS password change

Special NIS password change

When you change a password using the passwd(C) command when NIS is not enabled on your system, the entry given in the system password database file is changed. When NIS is enabled, you also use passwd to change your password. The passwd command is then a link to the yppasswd(NC) command. (The original /bin/passwd file is stored at /usr/lib/nisrt/bin/passwd and a link to /bin/yppasswd is made.) To enable NIS password service, you must start up the server daemon, yppasswdd(NADM), on the machine serving as the master for the NIS password file.

If the file /etc/ptmp exists, you will receive the following message when you try to change a password:

   yppasswd: password file busy - try again
The file /etc/ptmp is a lock file that indicates a previous invocation of yppasswd still exists. This file can be removed to unlock the password file.

See the yppasswd(NC) manual page for a list of error codes.