[ # ] Getting Rid of “do_ypcall: clnt_call: RPC: Timed out” Messages

/* Posted September 26th, 2008 at 4:28pm */
/* Filed under Linux */

In a new CentOS 5.2 Linux box that I recently set up, the Internet and intranet connections suffered from slow connectivity, with
do_ypcall: clnt_call: RPC: Timed out
messages appearing intermittently in the console, whether from commands executed directly from the command prompt or from windows applications. After tinkering with the firewall, DNS, DHCP and NIS server configurations to no avail, I finally discovered the solution. It was in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file where it the host resolution was looking up the NIS server before the DNS.

Below is the nsswitch.conf file with the change to the host resolution configuration. After making this change, the “do_ypcall: clnt_call: RPC: Timed out” messages disappeared altogether and connectivity was greatly improved.
# # /etc/nsswitch.conf # # An example Name Service Switch config file. This file should be # sorted with the most-used services at the beginning. # # The entry '[NOTFOUND=return]‘ means that the search for an # entry should stop if the search in the previous entry turned # up nothing. Note that if the search failed due to some other reason # (like no NIS server responding) then the search continues with the # next entry. # # Legal entries are: # # nisplus or nis+ Use NIS+ (NIS version 3) # nis or yp Use NIS (NIS version 2), also called YP # dns Use DNS (Domain Name Service) # files Use the local files # db Use the local database (.db) files # compat Use NIS on compat mode # hesiod Use Hesiod for user lookups # [NOTFOUND=return] Stop searching if not found so far # # To use db, put the “db” in front of “files” for entries you want to be # looked up first in the databases # # Example: #passwd: db files nisplus nis #shadow: db files nisplus nis #group: db files nisplus nis # passwd: files nis shadow: files nis group: files nis # #hosts: db files nisplus nis dns #hosts: files nis dns ##### < ---- delete 'nis' here ##### hosts: files dns # # Example - obey only what nisplus tells us... #services: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files #networks: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files #protocols: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files #rpc: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files #ethers: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files #netmasks: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files # bootparams: nisplus [NOTFOUND=return] files # ethers: files netmasks: files networks: files protocols: files rpc: files services: files # netgroup: files nis # publickey: nisplus # automount: files nis aliases: files nisplus