NFS tutorial - Get the Network File System running

From NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstation Wiki

Contents 1 Introduction 2 LS1,HG (ppc) 2.1 OpenLink 2.2 FreeLink 2.3 TIPS 2.3.1 See Also 3 LS2 (mips) - OpenLink 3.1 See Also 4 See Also

Introduction

Network File System (NFS) is a protocol originally developed by Sun Microsystems in 1984 and defined in RFC 1094, RFC 1813 and RFC 3530, as a distributed file system which allows a computer to access files over a network as easily as if they were on its local disks. NFS is one of many protocols built on the Open Network Computing Remote Procedure Call system. NFS is commonly used in the Unix/Linux It is rather unheard of in the Windows world, where SMB is the standard (and Samba is used on Unix/Linux to provide SMB service).

NFS is a good choice when remotely accessing files with another Linux/Unix system. Also, particular for the LinkStation NFS overcomes some limitations Apple OS X users have with the LinkStation Samba (not surprising, since OS X is a Unix at heart). Further, NFS on LinkStations is very popular among the DBox2 users (the DBox2 is a set-top box for pay-TV in Germany which can be hacked to record received media streams to e.g. a LinkStaion via NFS).

Currently Kernel-NFS is possible on the LS1, LS HG with 2.6-kernel and on the LS2 with OpenLink and the kernel-modules of the stock kernel.

LS1,HG (ppc)

Requirements: Upgrade to the 2.6-kernel (ppc only) over andre's webinstaller (kernel modules are included)

OpenLink

Download and untar the package

 cd / 
 wget http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0025690/ppc-openlink-2.6-kernel-NFS-V1.tar.gz 
 tar -xvzf ppc-openlink-2.6-kernel-NFS-V1.tar.gz 

• modify /etc/exports to your needs
• start the NFS-kernel server by:

 /etc/init.d/start_nfsd.sh 

(this is a custom startscript...it is not that good developed...it can just start at the moment...but it works)

• to check if the server is really running execute:

 rpcinfo -p 127.0.0.1

if this is working then try rpcinfo -p from a remote workstation (running linux or windows with the "services for unix" installed....only then rpcinfo will b available). there is an entry in /etc/hosts.deny ( portmap: ALL ) that prevents this....

so as long as you do not delete the portmap: ALL entry in /etc/hosts.deny, you have to explicit allow some hosts.

add to hosts.allow

 portmap: <host>

if it also works from a different machine then your NFS-Server is running. the only problem should be configuration now.

FreeLink

Add Kernel Network File System (NFS) and the Webmin Exports module

  apt-get install nfs-kernel-server webmin-exports

• Modify /etc/exports to your needs or use webmin and the exports module to do this

TIPS

If you edit /etc/exports while the NFS-Server is running, update the nfs-shares by:

 exportfs -a 

(exportfs only shows the current exports..)

if you need to stop NFS:

 /etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server stop 
 /etc/init.d/portmap stop 

and restart them again by

 /etc/init.d/portmap start 
 /etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server start 

to make this start after reboot

 ln -s /etc/init.d/start_nfsd.sh /etc/rc.d/rc2.d/S60start_nfsd.sh

If we get the 2.6-Kernel running on the Terastation then we have Kernel-NFS there as well Mindbender 20:17, 10 July 2006 (EDT)

See Also

• http://forum.linkstationwiki.net/index.php?action=vthread&forum=7&topic=840

LS2 (mips) - OpenLink

Install OpenLink 0.5x for MIPS if you haven't already done so.

Log in to the LS as root. Download the binaries and modules to /tmp

cd /tmp 
wget http://www.voicenet.com/~jceklosk/nfs-1.0.0-link2-jfc-1.0.2-alpha.tar.gz

Unpack the tarball:

tar xvfz nfs-1.0.0-link2-jfc-1.0.2-alpha.tar.gz

Forget about the README.1ST and do_install script that comes with the package. Instead: Copy the kernel modules:

cp /tmp/nfs-1.0.0-link2-jfc-1.0.2-alpha/modules/* /lib/modules

Copy the programs:

cp /tmp/nfs-1.0.0-link2-jfc-1.0.2-alpha/nfs-utils/* /usr/sbin
cp /tmp/nfs-1.0.0-link2-jfc-1.0.2-alpha/portmap/portmap /sbin

Create a file /etc/init.d/nfs with the following contents:

 
#!/bin/sh 
# 
# description: Starts the nfs server \ 
# Script by JM, based on script from \
# http://wiki.tuxbox.org/NAS:Buffalo_Linkstation_II plus \
# further hacks and fixes from linkstationwiki.net
#

PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin 

# Set the number of servers to be started. 
# For industrial strength nfs use 8 (if the LS2 can handle it) 
RPCNFSDCOUNT=3 
 
tag=linkstation 
facility=user.info 
 
# Avoid using root's TMPDIR 
unset TMPDIR 
 
# check for modules 
sunrpcok=`lsmod | grep ^sunrpc` 
lockdok=`lsmod | grep ^lockd` 
nfsdok=`lsmod | grep ^nfsd` 
nfsok=`lsmod | grep -w ^nfs` 
 
start() 
{ 
        if [ ! -r /etc/exports ] ; then 
                echo "nfs not started, nothing exported" 
                logger -t ${tag} -p ${facility} -i 'nfs not started, nothing exported' 
                exit 0 
        fi 
        # TODO: List individual services 
        echo "Start services: nfs" 
        cd /root 
 
        # 
        # nfs needs a few important status files in /var/lib/nfs. However, /var 
        # is on the ram disk of the LS2, so these files are lost after a 
        # reboot. We create empty substitutes for a start in case there 
        # are non. 
        # 
        mkdir -p /var/lib/nfs 
        mkdir -p /var/lib/nfs/sm 
        mkdir -p /var/lib/nfs/sm.bak 
        # rmtab needs to be a file, but someone sometimes creates it as a directory ... 
        [ -d /var/lib/nfs/rmtab ] && rm -rf /var/lib/nfs/rmtab 
        touch /var/lib/nfs/rmtab 
        touch /var/lib/nfs/state 
        touch /var/lib/nfs/etab 
 
        # Now insert the modules if they're not<client ip> running 
        if [ "$sunrpcok" = "" ]; then 
                /sbin/insmod /lib/modules/sunrpc.o 
        else 
                echo "nfs: sunrpc module already loaded" 
        fi 
 
        if [ "$lockdok" = "" ]; then 
                /sbin/insmod /lib/modules/lockd.o 
        else <client ip>
                echo "nfs: lockd module already loaded" 
        fi 
 
        if [ "nfsok" = "" ]; then 
                /sbin/insmod /lib/modules/nfs.o 
        else 
                echo "nfs: nfs module already loaded" 
        fi 
 cp /tmp/nfs-1.0.0-link2-jfc-1.0.2-alpha/portmap/portmap /sbin
        if [ "$nfsdok" = "" ]; then 
                /sbin/insmod /lib/modules/nfsd.o 
        else 
                echo "nfs: nfsd module is already loaded" 
        fi 
 cp /tmp/nfs-1.0.0-link2-jfc-1.0.2-alpha/portmap/portmap /sbin
        # 
        # Now run the daemons 
        # rpc.statd creates its own pidfile 
        # 
        /sbin/portmap 
        exportfs -r 
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet  --exec /usr/sbin/rpc.mountd 
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet  --exec /usr/sbin/rpc.statd 
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet  --exec /usr/sbin/rpc.nfsd $RPCNFSDCOUNT 
 
        touch /var/lock/subsys/nfs 
        showmount -e 
        logger -t ${tag} -p ${facility} -i 'Started nfs' 
} 

stop() 
{ 
        # TODO: List individual services 
        echo "Stopping services: nfs" 
 
        exportfs -au 
        start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet  --exec /usr/sbin/rpc.mountd 
        start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --pidfile /var/run/rpc.statd.pid 
        # nfsd needs KILL 
        start-stop-daemon --stop -s KILL -n nfsd 
        rm -f /var/lock/subsys/nfs 
        logger -t ${tag} -p ${facility} -i 'Stopped nfs' 
} 
 
case "$1" in 
start) 
        start 
;; 
stop) 
        stop 
;; 
restart) 
        echo "restarting nfs" 
        stop 
        sleep 10 
        start 
#       echo "starting rpc.mountd" 
#       start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --exec /usr/sbin/rpc.mountd 
#       echo "starting rpc.statd" 
#       start-stop-daemon --start --quiet  --exec /usr/sbin/rpc.statd 
#       echo "starting rpc.nfsd" 
#       start-stop-daemon --start --quiet  --exec /usr/sbin/rpc.nfsd $RPCNFSDCOUNT 
#       exportfs -r 
#       touch /var/lock/subsys/nfs 
#       showmount -e 
        ;; 
*) 
        echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/nfs {start|stop|restart}" >&2 
        exit 1 
        ;; 
esac 
exit 0 

Set up access right and create start/stop links:

 
chmod 755 /etc/init.d/nfs 
chown root:root /etc/init.d/nfs 
 
cd /etc/rc.d/rc0.d 
ln -s /etc/init.d/nfs K25nfs 
cd /etc/rc.d/rc2.d 
ln -s /etc/init.d/nfs S70nfs 
cd /etc/rc.d/rc6.d 
ln -s /etc/init.d/nfs K25nfs 

Read http://www.phpman.info/index.php?parameter=exports&mode=man or any other exports(5) man page you can get your hands on. Create an /etc/exports file similar to the following

/mnt/hda/share <client ip>(rw,async,secure,root_squash)

Where <client ip> should be the IP address of the client you want to grant access, e.g.

/mnt/hda/share 192.168.0.2(rw,async,secure,root_squash)

if the host 192.168.0.2 should be granted access. Or, for example:

/mnt/hda/share 192.168.0.0/24(rw,async,secure,root_squash)

if the whole 192.168.0.0/24 private subnet should be granted access to the share.

See the exports(5) man page for details. Make absolutely sure that there is no space between <client ip> and (rw,async,secure,root_squash), because this gives you a different, unsecure behavior (not that nfs is very secure, but ...).

Reboot the LS or start the /etc/init.d/nfs script manually

/etc/init.d/nfs start

See Also

• An alternative NFS installation description, using a Debian package for a start: http://www.herz.in/projekte/linkstation_en.html
• How to configure NFS for dbox & dreambox: http://wiki.tuxbox.org/NAS:Buffalo_Linkstation_II#NFS_Server_konfigurieren (German)

See Also

• Extensive Linux NFS Documentation: http://nfs.sourceforge.net

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