ypset is useful for binding a client node which is either not on a broadcast net or is on a broadcast net that is not running an NIS server host. It also is useful for debugging NIS client applications, for instance where an NIS map only exists at a single NIS server host.
In cases where several hosts on the local net are supplying NIS services, it is possible for ypbind to rebind to another host even while you attempt to find out if the ypset operation succeeded. That is, you can type ypset host1, and then ypwhich, and then receive the reply: host2, which can be confusing. This is a function of the NIS subsystem's attempt to load-balance among the available NIS servers. It occurs when host1 does not respond to ypbind (because it is not running ypserv or is overloaded) and host2 (which is running ypserv) gets the binding.
server indicates the NIS server to bind to and can be specified as a name or an IP address. If specified as a name, ypset will attempt to use NIS services to resolve the name to an IP address. This will work only if the node has a current valid binding for the domain in question. In most cases, server should be specified as an IP address.
Refer to ypfiles(NF) and ypserv(NADM) for an overview of the Network Information Service.
If no version parameter is supplied, ypset first
attempts to set the domain for the (current) v.2 protocol.
If this attempt fails, ypset then attempts to set
the domain for the (old) v.1 protocol.