/var/yp/nicknames is in nis 3.17-34ubuntu3.
This file is owned by root:root, with mode 0o644.
The actual contents of the file can be viewed below.
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | passwd		passwd.byname
group		group.byname
networks	networks.byaddr
hosts		hosts.byname
protocols	protocols.bynumber
services	services.byname
aliases		mail.aliases
ethers		ethers.byname
 |