NetInfo

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NetInfo is the system configuration database in NEXTSTEP and Mac OS X. NetInfo replaces most of the Unix system configuration files (they are still present for running the machine in single user mode); most Unix APIs wrap around NetInfo instead. NetInfo stores system wide network-type configuration information, such as users and groups, in binary databases; while Mac OS X machine and application specific settings are stored as plist files.

NetInfo was announced with great fanfare in NEXTSTEP version 0.9, and supposedly would replace both the Unix system configuration files and SUN Microsystems' Network Information Service (Yellow Pages). It immediately caused controversy, much unfavorable. Not only was NetInfo unique to NeXT computers (although NeXT hinted of selling NetInfo for other systems), DNS queries went through NetInfo. This lead to a situation where you couldn't do such basic tasks as translate a UNIX UID to a user name string because NetInfo was hung up on a DNS lookup. At first, it was possible to disable NetInfo and use the Unix system files, but as of NEXTSTEP version 2 disabling NetInfo also disabled 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 due to the early problems, NetInfo never took over the world of Unix system configuration.

Apple is moving away from using NetInfo towards LDAP, particularly in Mac OS X Server. [1] Future releases of Mac OS X will still include NetInfo but its use may not be supported by Apple. [2]

[edit] Where is it?

The NetInfo Database is stored in /private/var/db/netinfo/local.nidb/, and can only be accessed by root. It can be viewed and modified through its API, the NetInfo Manager utility, or command line tools such as niutil.