The /etc/publickey file

The /etc/publickey file contains names and public keys, which NIS and NIS+ use to create the publickey map.

The publickey map is used for secure networking. Each entry in the file consists of a network user name (which refers to either a user or a host name), followed by the user public key (in hexadecimal notation), a colon, and the user-encrypted secret key (also in hexadecimal notation). By default, the only user in the /etc/publickey file is the user nobody.

Do not use a text editor to alter the /etc/publickey file because the file contains encryption keys. To alter the /etc/publickey file, use either the chkey or newkey commands.