Bug 1517403 - Inconsistent use and documentation of options in /etc/nsswitch.conf
Summary: Inconsistent use and documentation of options in /etc/nsswitch.conf
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED CURRENTRELEASE
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: glibc
Version: rawhide
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Carlos O'Donell
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2017-11-24 22:22 UTC by John Dodson
Modified: 2019-10-15 22:27 UTC (History)
8 users (show)

Fixed In Version: glibc-2.29.9000-8
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2019-10-15 13:47:24 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description John Dodson 2017-11-24 22:22:18 UTC
Description of problem:

The file /etc/nsswitch.conf distributed by this package uses options sss and
systemd but these are not documented in the comments at the head of the file
or in the nsswitch.conf(5) manual.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

glibc-2.25-12.fc26.x86_64

How reproducible:
Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. RTFM
2. Read /etc/nsswitch.conf
3.

Actual results:

See above.
Expected results:
That the documentation matches the usage.

Additional info:

If this is fixed in FC27 or later please just say that rather than closing the bug at EOL.

Comment 1 Florian Weimer 2017-11-25 09:06:25 UTC
Have you read the glibc manual?  (The manual pages are a separately maintained project.)

What, exactly, do you think needs documenting?

Can you attach the contents of your nsswitch.conf file?  Many Fedora packages modify it, mostly without coordination with the glibc package.

Comment 2 John Dodson 2017-11-28 20:35:47 UTC
In Answer to,(*)
*Have you read the glibc manual?  (The manual pages are a separately maintained project.)

Probably not in it's entirety for some years.
Yes but the file /etc/nsswitch.conf is distributed by the glibc package - so where else can a perceived problem with it be reported?

*What, exactly, do you think needs documenting?

The head of the /etc/nsswitch.conf file gives a list of valid entries,
# Valid entries include:
#
#       nisplus                 Use NIS+ (NIS version 3)
#       nis                     Use NIS (NIS version 2), also called YP
#       dns                     Use DNS (Domain Name Service)
#       files                   Use the local files
#       db                      Use the local database (.db) files
#       compat                  Use NIS on compat mode
#       hesiod                  Use Hesiod for user lookups
#       [NOTFOUND=return]       Stop searching if not found so far
#

but does not include some recent module additions (sss/systemd/ldap)
Perhaps what it needs to say is "Valid entries (supported natively) include:"
But it would be nice include those that are now more mainstream as included or
by module.
Now it seems the distributed version contains the "systemd" option.

See also,
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1440530
(I just realised this exists)
& maybe even...
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=867473
as "sss" was once in distributed /etc/nsswitch.conf


*Can you attach the contents of your nsswitch.conf file?  Many Fedora packages modify it, mostly without coordination with the glibc package.

My /etc/nsswitch.conf does not have these in it, but here's one from a server I
have access to that appears to have the distributed version at the time it
was created (2014).
(Yes, perhaps shame on the people that configured it if what's there was not what's intended, but it implies these
new options need to be defined in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file itself):

#
# /etc/nsswitch.conf
#
# An example Name Service Switch config file. This file should be
# sorted with the most-used services at the beginning.
#
# The entry '[NOTFOUND=return]' means that the search for an
# entry should stop if the search in the previous entry turned
# up nothing. Note that if the search failed due to some other reason
# (like no NIS server responding) then the search continues with the
# next entry.
#
# Valid entries include:
#
#	nisplus			Use NIS+ (NIS version 3)
#	nis			Use NIS (NIS version 2), also called YP
#	dns			Use DNS (Domain Name Service)
#	files			Use the local files
#	db			Use the local database (.db) files
#	compat			Use NIS on compat mode
#	hesiod			Use Hesiod for user lookups
#	[NOTFOUND=return]	Stop searching if not found so far
#

# To use db, put the "db" in front of "files" for entries you want to be
# looked up first in the databases
#
# Example:
#passwd:    db files nisplus nis
#shadow:    db files nisplus nis
#group:     db files nisplus nis

passwd:     files sss
shadow:     files sss
group:      files sss

#hosts:     db files nisplus nis dns
hosts:      files dns

# Example - obey only what nisplus tells us...
#services:   nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
#networks:   nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
#protocols:  nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
#rpc:        nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
#ethers:     nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files
#netmasks:   nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files     

bootparams: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files

ethers:     files
netmasks:   files
networks:   files
protocols:  files
rpc:        files
services:   files

netgroup:   files sss

publickey:  nisplus

automount:  files
aliases:    files nisplus

Comment 3 John Dodson 2018-02-06 23:12:17 UTC
I just got an email saying,

Bugzilla account termination <pnt-expunge> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 CC|rth              |


So will all people CC'd in this leave before the problem is understood/resolved?

Comment 4 Fedora End Of Life 2018-05-03 08:08:03 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 26 is nearing its end of life.
Approximately 4 (four) weeks from now Fedora will stop maintaining
and issuing updates for Fedora 26. It is Fedora's policy to close all
bug reports from releases that are no longer maintained. At that time
this bug will be closed as EOL if it remains open with a Fedora  'version'
of '26'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version'
to a later Fedora version.

Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that we were not
able to fix it before Fedora 26 is end of life. If you would still like
to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it against a later version
of Fedora, you are encouraged  change the 'version' to a later Fedora
version prior this bug is closed as described in the policy above.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 5 Fedora End Of Life 2018-05-29 11:34:20 UTC
Fedora 26 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2018-05-29. Fedora 26
is no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any
further security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of
Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version. If you
are unable to reopen this bug, please file a new report against the
current release. If you experience problems, please add a comment to this
bug.

Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.

Comment 6 John Dodson 2018-06-25 13:01:52 UTC
There appears to have been a recent change to the nsswitch.conf file that has
"updated" it in FC28 - which is good.

Sadly the NSSWITCH.CONF(5) manual still lags.

Comment 7 Jan Kurik 2018-08-14 10:16:48 UTC
This bug appears to have been reported against 'rawhide' during the Fedora 29 development cycle.
Changing version to '29'.

Comment 8 Carlos O'Donell 2019-10-15 13:47:24 UTC
Fixed this this commit.

Fedora:

commit 82a97343d6405772541d754aeb4bab79612bd839
Author: Carlos O'Donell <carlos>
Date:   Thu Feb 7 17:15:12 2019 -0500

    Add warnings and notes to /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/nscd.conf.

Upstream:

commit 4b7c74179c8928d971d370e1137d202f891a4cf5
Author: Carlos O'Donell <carlos>
Date:   Wed Mar 20 12:40:18 2019 -0400

    nss: Make nsswitch.conf more distribution friendly.

The glibc manual was updated to reference all possible service providers.

The nsswitch.conf(5) manual cannot possibly document all available plugins. Please file a bug with the man-pages component and describe any specific changes you want to see there.

Comment 9 Carlos O'Donell 2019-10-15 13:48:25 UTC
If you have any more things that you would like added, please don't hesitate to ask.

Comment 10 John Dodson 2019-10-15 22:27:03 UTC
Thanks, greatly appreciated - perhaps on the manual I'll wait till the
new nsswitch.conf file has been around for a couple of releases (via the glibc
distribution) & then report the man pages deficiencies, otherwise it will probably
be an uphill process.

Thanks again for your efforts on the consistency of nsswitch.conf


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