Summary

This classic howto was written in 2002, but it is still a must-read howto for any Linux professionals today.It will guide you how to set up NFS clients and servers. This is a book you should have on your bookshelf.

Table of Contents

• 1. Preamble
• 1.1. Legal stuff
• 1.2. Disclaimer
• 1.3. Feedback
• 1.4. Translation
• 1.5. Dedication
• 2. Introduction
• 2.1. What is NFS?
• 2.2. What is this HOWTO and what is it not?
• 2.3. Knowledge Pre-Requisites
• 2.4. Software Pre-Requisites: Kernel Version and nfs-utils
• 2.5. Where to get help and further information
• 3. Setting Up an NFS Server
• 3.1. Introduction to the server setup
• 3.2. Setting up the Configuration Files
• 3.3. Getting the services started
• 3.4. Verifying that NFS is running
• 3.5. Making changes to /etc/exports later on
• 4. Setting up an NFS Client
• 4.1. Mounting remote directories
• 4.2. Getting NFS File Systems to Be Mounted at Boot Time
• 4.3. Mount options
• 5. Optimizing NFS Performance
• 5.1. Setting Block Size to Optimize Transfer Speeds
• 5.2. Packet Size and Network Drivers
• 5.3. Overflow of Fragmented Packets
• 5.4. NFS over TCP
• 5.5. Timeout and Retransmission Values
• 5.6. Number of Instances of the NFSD Server Daemon
• 5.7. Memory Limits on the Input Queue
• 5.8. Turning Off Autonegotiation of NICs and Hubs
• 5.9. Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Behavior in NFS
• 5.10. Non-NFS-Related Means of Enhancing Server Performance
• 6. Security and NFS
• 6.1. The portmapper
• 6.2. Server security: nfsd and mountd
• 6.3. Client Security
• 6.4. NFS and firewalls (ipchains and netfilter)
• 6.5. Tunneling NFS through SSH
• 6.6. Summary
• 7. Troubleshooting
• 7.1. Unable to See Files on a Mounted File System
• 7.2. File requests hang or timeout waiting for access to the file.
• 7.3. Unable to mount a file system
• 7.4. I do not have permission to access files on the mounted volume.
• 7.5. When I transfer really big files, NFS takes over all the CPU cycles on the server and it screeches to a halt.
• 7.6. Strange error or log messages
• 7.7. Real permissions don't match what's in /etc/exports.
• 7.8. Flaky and unreliable behavior
• 7.9. nfsd won't start
• 7.10. File Corruption When Using Multiple Clients
• 8. Using Linux NFS with Other OSes
• 8.1. AIX
• 8.2. BSD
• 8.3. Tru64 Unix
• 8.4. HP-UX
• 8.5. IRIX
• 8.6. Solaris
• 8.7. SunOS