Abstract: The present invention provides a method for an account management module database interface for NIS servers. According to one embodiment, the present invention automatically generates key files used to build NIS database manager maps which control the access to systems on a local area network, which may be UNIX systems. According to another embodiment, this interface is divided into two components, viz.: the bulkload and the data pull. Both components access a relational database to update and pull data used to generate the data. According to another embodiment, the bulkload component is able to read the password, group and auto_home files, validate the record's contents, and update the database with information which meets a validation criteria. According to another embodiment, the data pull component can pull out the necessary data from the database so that files required to build the password, shadow, group, auto_home, and aliases map can be generated.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for an account management module user interface for NIS servers. According to one embodiment, the account management module is a set of servlets written in a platform independent programming language, such as Java, that allow system administrators to modify, add, or delete NIS information related to users. These users may be humans or other system related machines or programs. According to another embodiment, the servlets stored in a backend database provide screens in a browser. In particular there are three screens which are of importance to the present invention, and include one to display the NIS password, another to display the group maps, and the last to display the auto_home maps. These screens are interactive, which means that system administrators can manipulate the information displayed on the screens.