Chapter 33. Configuring and Managing the Network File System | HP Certified: HP-UX System Administration

Chapter Syllabus

33.1 NFS Concepts

33.2 Configuring an NFS Server

33.3 Configuring an NFS Client

33.4 NFS Daemons

33.5 Troubleshooting

The Network File System (NFS) is used to share files and directories over a network. It is an RPC-based system and works in the client-server model. The NFS server makes some of its file systems shareable with other systems on a network. The NFS client mounts shared file systems from the server to its local mount points. Users of the client machines can use NFS-mounted file systems just like the local file systems. NFS support is available on many platforms including personal computers. On UNIX systems, this has become a de facto standard and provides a transparent way for sharing files. When used in combination with NIS, it facilitates users' logging in from any machine on the network and finding the same environment, home directories, and mailboxes.

NFS is used to save disk space in a number of ways. All files that are static in nature can be shared on a network. These files include application directories under /opt and operating system files under the /usr directory. The files that are shared by individual users are users' home directories and mailboxes. The directories that contain configuration files or log files are usually not shared.

NFS version 2 is supported on HP-UX versions 10.20 and earlier. Version 3 is supported on HP-UX 10.30 and later. The new version provides some extra benefits, like larger file sizes and improved performance. NFS version 3 is used by default on HP-UX 10.30 and later.

This chapter begins with an introduction to NFS, where NFS concepts and terms are presented. After that you will move to the configuration of an NFS server. Here you will learn how to start NFS services and how to export file systems to be mounted remotely by NFS clients . In the NFS client configuration process, you will start NFS client services and mount file systems exported by a particular NFS server. In this process, the /etc/fstab file is updated. After that a list of NFS daemons with their specific responsibilities in the NFS system is presented. In the last part of the chapter, you will learn some utilities and commands that can be used to monitor and configure NFS activity. Using these utilities, you will be able to see what file systems are exported and what clients are accessing them.

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