system-update NIS

On a computer with a sequential system-update to the latest version of ubuntu, to get it working back on the network all I had to do was :

I typed
sudo apt-get install portmap nfs-common
>>this installed the NFS packages needed to link NFS and NIS
and I was able to log into burns as my user name


In other news, I found this site that looks very helpful with setting up NIS. I need to find out the following things:

first configure the nsswitch.conf file (name service)

The site gives the following example:

# /etc/nsswitch.nis:
#
# An example file that could be copied over to /etc/nsswitch.conf; it
# uses NIS (YP) in conjunction with files.
#
# "hosts:" and "services:" in this file are used only if the
# /etc/netconfig file has a "-" for nametoaddr_libs of "inet" transports.
# the following two lines obviate the "+" entry in /etc/passwd and /etc/group.
passwd: files nis
group: files nis
# consult /etc "files" only if nis is down.
hosts: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
networks: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
protocols: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
rpc: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files

ethers: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
netmasks: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
bootparams: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
publickey: nis [NOTFOUND=return] files
netgroup: nis
automount: files nis
aliases: files nis
# for efficient getservbyname() avoid nis
services: files nis
sendmailvars: files

The site also gives an example of what the nsswitch.files should look like.