Table of Contents
Introduction to Setup NFS server
Setup NFS Server, This is a quick and easy guide for any newbie. The NFS or Network File System requirement is common across all kind of development or production environment. Mostly, this requirement will come whenever we need a temporary solution to back up something in production or non-production environment.
NFS will come into picture when we need to share a common filesystem across multiple Linux clients. Let’s focus on simple setup, for now. Just set up a fresh NFS server and share the filesystem as NFS shares to mount on a Linux client.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| www.linuxsysadmins.com |
| +--------------+ +--------------+ |
| +-------------+ | | | | |
| | | | Client 1 | | 192.168.0.43 | |
| | +------->+ 192.168.0.56 | | Some other | |
| | | | | client | |
| | | +--------------+ +--------------+ |
| | NFS Server | | |
| |192.168.0.55 +-----------------------------------------+ |
| | | | |
| | | +------v-------+ |
| | | +--------------+ | | |
| | +-------->+ | | 192.168.0.44 | |
| | | | 192.168.0.42 | Some other | |
| +-------------+ | Some other | | client | |
| | client | +--------------+ |
| +--------------+ |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
My Server Setup
| SERVER IP ADDRESS | CLIENTS IP ADDRESS |
| 192.168.0.55 | 192.168.0.56, 192.168.0.42-45 |
Setup NFS Server
Let’s start to setup the nfs server by installing below package.
# dnf install nfs-utils -y # RHEL 8, CentOS Linux 8, Oracle Linux 8
# yum install nfs-utils -y # RHEL 7, CentOS Linux 7, Oracle Linux 7
# apt install nfs-kernel-server # Debian and UbuntuOnce we run yum or dnf it will pull the required packages and it’s dependencies.
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Package Architecture Version Repository Size
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Installing:
nfs-utils x86_64 1:2.3.3-31.el8 BaseOS 468 k
Installing dependencies:
gssproxy x86_64 0.8.0-15.el8 BaseOS 118 k
keyutils x86_64 1.5.10-6.el8 BaseOS 63 k
libevent x86_64 2.1.8-5.el8 BaseOS 253 k
libverto-libevent x86_64 0.3.0-5.el8 BaseOS 16 k
quota x86_64 1:4.04-10.el8 BaseOS 214 k
quota-nls noarch 1:4.04-10.el8 BaseOS 94 k
rpcbind x86_64 1.2.5-7.el8 BaseOS 70 k
Transaction Summary
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Install 8 PackagesStart and Enable NFS service
Right after installing the packages, enable the service to start persistently and start the service.
# systemctl enable rpcbind nfs-server
# systemctl start nfs-serverWhile checking for the status we should see similar to below.
[root@nfsserver ~]# systemctl status rpcbind nfs-server
● rpcbind.service - RPC Bind
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/rpcbind.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2020-09-04 12:03:36 +04; 2min 39s ago
Docs: man:rpcbind(8)
Main PID: 13884 (rpcbind)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 11331)
Memory: 1.6M
CGroup: /system.slice/rpcbind.service
└─13884 /usr/bin/rpcbind -w -f
Sep 04 12:03:36 nfsserver.linuxsysadmins.local systemd[1]: Starting RPC Bind...
Sep 04 12:03:36 nfsserver.linuxsysadmins.local systemd[1]: Started RPC Bind.
● nfs-server.service - NFS server and services
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nfs-server.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (exited) since Fri 2020-09-04 12:03:36 +04; 2min 38s ago
Main PID: 13915 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Tasks: 0 (limit: 11331)
Memory: 0B
CGroup: /system.slice/nfs-server.service
Sep 04 12:03:36 nfsserver.linuxsysadmins.local systemd[1]: Starting NFS server and services...
Sep 04 12:03:36 nfsserver.linuxsysadmins.local systemd[1]: Started NFS server and services.
[root@nfsserver ~]#Firewall for NFS
Back in RHEL 6 version’s we require to write iptables manually, however, in current RHEL 7 and 8 based Linux distributions, it’s super easy to enable firewall rules by running below commands.
# firewall-cmd --add-service={nfs,nfs3,rpc-bind,mountd} --permanent
# firewall-cmd --reloadBy running the above commands it will allow the ports 2049, 111 and 20048.
[root@nfsclient ~]# cat /usr/lib/firewalld/services/nfs.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<service>
<short>NFS4</short>
<description>The NFS4 protocol is used to share files via TCP networking. You will need to have the NFS tools installed and properly configure your NFS server for this option to be useful.</description>
<port protocol="tcp" port="2049"/>
</service>
[root@nfsclient ~]#
[root@nfsclient ~]# cat /usr/lib/firewalld/services/nfs3.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<service>
<short>NFS3</short>
<description>The NFS3 protocol is used to share files. You will need to have the NFS tools installed and properly configure your NFS server for this option to be useful.</description>
<port protocol="tcp" port="2049"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="2049"/>
</service>
[root@nfsclient ~]#
[root@nfsclient ~]# cat /usr/lib/firewalld/services/rpc-bind.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<service>
<short>rpc-bind</short>
<description>Remote Procedure Call Bind</description>
<port protocol="tcp" port="111"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="111"/>
</service>
[root@nfsclient ~]#
[root@nfsclient ~]# cat /usr/lib/firewalld/services/mountd.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<service>
<short>mountd</short>
<description>NFS Mount Lock Daemon</description>
<port protocol="tcp" port="20048"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="20048"/>
</service>
[root@nfsclient ~]#SELinux Configuration
If you need to allow all exports to have read and write access enable the below Boolean for SELinux.
# setsebool -P nfs_export_all_rw 1Let’s create a share now.
Create and Export NFS share
Create a nfs share for the clients. For demonstration purpose let’s create the mount point /nfsshare.
# mkdir /nfsshareIf you need to create a share for Kubernetes or OpenShift storage, make sure to change the permission and ownership as well.
# chmod -R 777 /nfsshare
# chown -R nobody:nobody /nfsshareTo share the required nfs shares we need to put inside the exports file.
# vim /etc/exports/nfsshare 192.168.0.0/24(rw,sync,no_root_squash,no_all_squash,no_wdelay)) # NFS share for a whole subnet.
/nfspub *(rw,no_root_squash) # NFS share for public use.
/nfslimit 192.168.0.[42-44]/24(rw,no_root_squash) # NFS share for specific range of hosts.Save and exit the exports file using wq!. By following, run the below command to export and make it to available for the clients.
# exportfs -aNFS share Options
For a successful NFS setup, we need to understand the options available in it.
Refer the exports, look into the man page for more information regarding nfs exports options.
That’s it, we have completed with the server side setup.
NFS Client Setup
To start with the client-side setup, first of all, install the same package which we installed in server-side, this applied for both RHEL 7 and 8 version and its family OS CentOS or Oracle Linux.
# dnf install nfs-utils -y # RHEL 8, CentOS Linux 8, Oracle Linux 8
# yum install nfs-utils -y # RHEL 7, CentOS Linux 7, Oracle Linux 7
# apt install nfs-common -y # Debian and Ubuntu Enable and Start client Service
Enable and start the nfs-client service by running systemctl command.
# systemctl enable nfs-client.target
# systemctl start nfs-client.target Listing the NFS share
To know the list of NFS shares in the client side we can use list by running
# showmount -e 192.168.0.55The option -e determines --exports It will show the NFS server’s export list.
[root@nfsclient ~]# showmount -e 192.168.0.55
Export list for 192.168.0.55:
/nfspub *
/nfslimit 192.168.0.[42-44]/24
/nfsshare (everyone)
[root@nfsclient ~]# Mounting the NFS share
Let’s mount the filesystem now under anyone of the directory. The NFS share /nfsshare exported for the whole subnet, let me mount it under /nfsmount.
# mkdir /nfsmountIt’s not mandatory to use -t or –types the new operating system will recognize the type of files we are trying to mount and use the required types/protocols.
# mount -t nfs 192.168.0.55:/nfsshare /nfsmount/Let’s list the mounted file system.
[root@nfsclient ~]# df -hP /nfsmount/
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
192.168.0.55:/nfsshare 50G 1.9G 49G 4% /nfsmount
[root@nfsclient ~]# Let’s test the mount file-system by creating some files under it.
[root@nfsclient ~]# cd /nfsmount/
[root@nfsclient nfsmount]#
[root@nfsclient nfsmount]# touch test.txt
[root@nfsclient nfsmount]#
[root@nfsclient nfsmount]# ls -lthr test.txt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 0 Sep 4 2020 test.txt
[root@nfsclient nfsmount]# Still now, we are good with mounting and creating the files under new NFS share.
Mounting NFS Shares Persistently
To mount the NFS shares permanently we need to put it in FSTAB entry. Get the entry from /etc/mtab and modified as per our requirement.
[root@nfsclient ~]# cat /etc/mtab | tail -n 1
192.168.0.55:/nfsshare /nfsmount nfs4 rw,relatime,vers=4.2,rsize=262144,wsize=262144,namlen=255,hard,proto=tcp,timeo=600,retrans=2,sec=sys,clientaddr=192.168.0.56,local_lock=none,addr=192.168.0.55 0 0
[root@nfsclient ~]# Edit the FSTAB entry and add it as follows.
# vim /etc/fstabNFS_SERVER_IPA:/NFS_SHARES /MOUNT_POINT FILETYPE DEFAULT_MOUNT_OPTIONS 0 0
192.168.0.55:/nfsshare /nfsmount nfs4 defaults,_netdev,vers=4.2,sec=sys 0 0The mount options we used are
| defaults | default options are used while mounting this file system. |
| _netdev | While adding this option, prevent the system from attempting to mount these filesystems until the network has been enabled on the system. |
| vers=4.2 | The version of NFS need to be used to mount the filesystem. |
| sec=sys | which uses local Unix UIDs and GIDs by using AUTH_SYS to authenticate NFS operations. |
| 0 | Exclude the file system from the backup. |
| 0 | Exclude from running the fsck |
Mounting an un-allowed NFS Share
We have seen above how to mount an NFS share from the same subnet, let’s see what happen when we try to mount an NFS share which not allowed for our host/network.
# mount -t nfs 192.168.0.55:/nfslimit /nfsmount/We will get the below error as No such file or directory.
[root@nfsclient ~]# mount -t nfs 192.168.0.55:/nfslimit /nfsmount/
mount.nfs: mounting 192.168.0.55:/nfslimit failed, reason given by server: No such file or directory
[root@nfsclient ~]# That’s it, we have successfully completed with setting up a NFS share.
Conclusion
To share a file system over the network, we can stick with NFS. It’s very simple and easy to complete the setup in few steps. Will keep posted with more content related to network filesystem in upcoming guides. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the updates.