Long records in /etc/group file.

[Russell J Fulton;ccc032u]

We run a large UNIX system ( a SGI 4D/240 ) with over 1000 registered users.
Other possibly relevant data: IRIX is a system V derivative with lots of 
BSD features. ( In particular next release will have BSD groups, due rsn.)
We also run Yellow Pages to share /etc/passwd and /etc/group.

The system is shared by 4 main groups of users.
  1/ Academic staff
  2/ Post graduate students
  3/ Undergraduate students
  4/ Computer centre programes

We want to restrict access to certain resources to members of one or other
of these groups. My first approach to this was to make a group not-ugrd that
included all non undergraduates ( aprox 500) but YP bitched about the line
in the /etc/group file being too long.

HOw do other handle this sort of problem on large systems?

Thanks, Russell.


-- 

Russell Fulton, Computer Centre, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Internet rj_fulton at aukuni.ac.nz.