libnss_dbng - Next-generation Berkeley DB libnss backend

This library replaces the older libnss_db library. Apart from being a fresh, legacy-free & maintained codebase, it aims to make the following improvements:

• Use more modern versions of Berkeley DB.
• Make use of secondary indexes for fast lookups (ie lookup by UID or name in the case of passwd).
• Have good test coverage via automated unit tests.
• Provide a management library (libdbng) and sample frontend (dbngctl) to allow applications to safely manage the databases, as well as the core nss functions themselves.

Components

In addition to the libnss functions, the following components are provided to manage the service databases:

• libdbng - Object-oriented library to manage service databases (and secondary indexes transparently).
• dbngctl - Control program to allow administrators to manage service databases from the command line. Makes use of libdbng.
• DBNG::Service - OO PERL extension which links against libdbng.

Building

The library requires Berkeley DB (4.x or 5.x).

Via autotools, use something like:

  $ autoreconf -i
  $ ./configure DEFAULT_BASE="/var/dbng" TEST_BASE="/tmp" && make
  $ make check && sudo make install

Status

Currently the passwd, group and shadow services are implemented.