Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!helios.ee.lbl.gov!surf.ee.lbl.gov!jef
From: jef@surf.ee.lbl.gov (Jef Poskanzer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sequent
Subject: passwd hashing
Message-ID: <2470@helios.ee.lbl.gov>
Date: 22 Apr 89 20:44:25 GMT
Sender: usenet@helios.ee.lbl.gov
Reply-To: Jef Poskanzer <jef@helios.ee.lbl.gov>
Organization: Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric, Ada Lovelace Cabal
Lines: 26

I just finished helping the WELL switch from a VAX 750 to a Sequent
Balance 8.  There were practically no glitches, and overall I'm very
happy with the new system.  However, there is one annoying problem I
haven't figured out yet.  See, the WELL's /etc/passwd has almost 3000
entries, so the usual method of accessing it is insufficient.  The simple
linear scan normally used can take up to 10 seconds on a lightly loaded
system.  (I haven't tried it on a heavily loaded system yet because I
haven't managed to get the load average above 1.6...)

Anyway, Sequent assured us that we could simply install yellow pages,
with its dbm-ized files, and all programs that ask for passwd entries
would automatically use it.  Well, I configured the kernel with "options
NFS", I did the ypinit, I enabled ypserv and ypbind in rc.local and
rebooted, I tried editting /etc/passwd and then doing a "cd /etc/yp;
make passwd", and everything looked hunky dory.

However, when I tested it out by fingering the last person in /etc/passwd,
it still took 10 seconds.  Same for logging in as him.  It's as if nothing
changed.

I have no idea what could be wrong.  Any clues?
---
Jef

            Jef Poskanzer   jef@helios.ee.lbl.gov   ...well!pokey
                     "Would you buy that for a quarter?"