{{short description|Distributed network configuration database}} '''NetInfo''' was a distributed network configuration [[database]] in [[NeXTSTEP]] and [[Mac OS X]] versions up through [[Mac OS X Tiger|Mac OS X Tiger (10.4)]]. NetInfo stored network-wide configuration information, such as users and groups, in a binary database consisting of directories that could optionally be obtained from a domain server. NetInfo replaced many [[Unix]] system configuration files, though they are still present for running the machine in [[single user mode]]; most Unix [[application programming interface|APIs]] wrapped NetInfo instead.
==History== NetInfo was introduced in NeXTSTEP version 0.9, and replaced both the [[Unix]] system configuration files and [[Sun Microsystems]]' [[Network Information Service]] (Yellow Pages) on NeXT computers. It immediately caused controversy. Not only was NetInfo unique to [[NeXT]] computers (although NeXT later licensed NetInfo to Xedoc, an Australian software company who produced NetInfo for other UNIX systems), [[Domain name system|DNS]] queries went through NetInfo.<ref>{{cite web |last=Garfinkel |first=Simson |date=July 1993 |title=From Down Under to Everywhere |url=http://www.simson.net/ref/NeXT/nextworld/93.7/93.7.Nov.Community04.html |accessdate=2007-12-24}}</ref> This meant basic tasks such as translating a UNIX UID to a user name string could stall because NetInfo was stuck on a DNS lookup. At first, it was possible to disable NetInfo and use the Unix system files, but starting in NeXTSTEP version 2, this disabled [[Domain name system|DNS]] support. Thus, NeXT computers became notorious for locking a user out of everyday tasks because a DNS server had stopped responding.
The Mac OS X version of NetInfo remedied this (and many other problems), but by this time popular alternatives had emerged. Apple moved away from using NetInfo towards [[Lightweight Directory Access Protocol|LDAP]].[https://web.archive.org/web/20110609073535/http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/oct/08pantherserver.html]. Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) was the last version to support NetInfo. Beginning with [[Mac OS X v10.5|Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)]], NetInfo was completely phased out and replaced by a new local search node named ''dslocal'', which uses standard [[property list]] files in <code>/var/db/dslocal/</code>.<ref>{{cite web |last=Welch |first=John |date=November 16, 2007 |title=Analysis: The end of Netinfo |url=http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/11/16/netinfo/index.php?pf=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212175259/http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/11/16/netinfo/index.php?pf=1 |archive-date=2007-12-12 |accessdate=2007-11-16 |website=Macworld}}</ref>
==Files== The NetInfo Database was stored in {{mono|/private/var/db/netinfo/local.nidb/}}, and could only be accessed by [[Superuser|root]]. It could also be viewed and modified through its [[application programming interface]], the [[NetInfo Manager]] utility, or command line tools such as {{mono|niutil}}.
As NetInfo was completely removed from Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), the NetInfo utilities have been phased out and replaced by other tools.
==Data== NetInfo had directories for the following data: * afpuser_aliases * aliases * exports (nfs shares) * groups * machines * mounts * networks * printers * protocols * rpcs * services * users
==See also== * [[Apple Open Directory]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20041013054852/https://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man5/netinfo.5.html netinfo man page]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netinfo}} [[Category:MacOS]] [[Category:NeXT]] [[Category:Directory services]]