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How to Install and Configure NFS on Linux Mint 20

To Install and configure NFS on Linux Mint 20

Introduction:

The Network File System (NFS) is a client/server application that allows a user to store and update files on a remote computer through the Network. This tutorial will cover the installation and configuration of NFS on Linux Mint 20.

Installation Procedure:

Check the version of Linux Mint OS

root@linuxhelp:~# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Linuxmint
Description:	Linux Mint 20
Release:	20
Codename:	ulyana

Install the NFS server by executing the following command

root@linuxhelp:~# apt install nfs-kernel-server -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Setting up libnfsidmap2:amd64 (0.25-5.1ubuntu1) ...
.
.
.
Creating config file /etc/exports with new version
Creating config file /etc/default/nfs-kernel-server with new version
Processing triggers for systemd (245.4-4ubuntu3) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9) ...

After the installation now create a directories for sharing to the client

root@linuxhelp:~# mkdir /home/test
root@linuxhelp:~# mkdir /home/test2

After the directories is created then give the permission of those directories

root@linuxhelp:~# chmod -R 777 /home/test /home/test2

After that now I am give the access to folders for share to the clients

root@linuxhelp:~# vim /etc/exports 
Add the following line to the file
/home/test      192.168.6.116(ro,sync,no_subtree_check)
/home/test2     192.168.6.116(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)

After the access is given then restart the NFS service by executing the following command

root@linuxhelp:~# systemctl restart nfs-kernel-server.service

After that export the share folders by using the following command

root@linuxhelp:~# exportfs -a

Now I will view if the folders is shared or not to the client

root@linuxhelp:~# showmount -e
Export list for linuxhelp:
/home/test2 192.168.6.116
/home/test  192.168.6.116

After that I am move on to my Client Machine, in here I using Ubuntu on my client machine on my client machine also I install nfs server to access the folders from the server by executing following command

root@linuxhelp:~# apt install nfs-kernel-server -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
.
.
.
Creating config file /etc/exports with new version
Creating config file /etc/default/nfs-kernel-server with new version
Processing triggers for systemd (245.4-4ubuntu3.2) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9) ...

After the installation is completed. Now check the if the folders from the server is shared or not

root@linuxhelp:~# showmount -e 192.168.6.119
Export list for 192.168.6.119:
/home/test2 192.168.6.116
/home/test  192.168.6.116

Create some folders for mount the share folders form the server

root@linuxhelp:~# mkdir /mnt/test
root@linuxhelp:~# mkdir /mnt/test2

Now I will check the drive is any share folder is mounted or not by executing the following command

root@linuxhelp:~# df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev            953M     0  953M   0% /dev
tmpfs           196M  1.6M  195M   1% /run
/dev/sda5        20G  7.7G   11G  43% /
tmpfs           980M     0  980M   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs           980M     0  980M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/loop0       55M   55M     0 100% /snap/core18/1880
/dev/loop1       56M   56M     0 100% /snap/core18/1932
/dev/loop2      256M  256M     0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/36
/dev/loop3      218M  218M     0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/60
/dev/loop4       63M   63M     0 100% /snap/gtk-common-themes/1506
/dev/loop5       50M   50M     0 100% /snap/snap-store/467
/dev/loop6       51M   51M     0 100% /snap/snap-store/481
/dev/loop7       30M   30M     0 100% /snap/snapd/8542
/dev/loop8       31M   31M     0 100% /snap/snapd/9721
/dev/sda1       511M  4.0K  511M   1% /boot/efi
tmpfs           196M   12K  196M   1% /run/user/125
tmpfs           196M   36K  196M   1% /run/user/1000

after that I am mount the share folders to the newly created folders of my client machine

root@linuxhelp:~# mount -t nfs 192.168.6.119:/home/test /mnt/test
root@linuxhelp:~# mount -t nfs 192.168.6.119:/home/test2 /mnt/test2

Now I am view the drive for the folders are mounted correctly on the disk

root@linuxhelp:~# df -h
Filesystem                 Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev                       953M     0  953M   0% /dev
tmpfs                      196M  1.6M  195M   1% /run
/dev/sda5                   20G  7.7G   11G  43% /
tmpfs                      980M     0  980M   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                      5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs                      980M     0  980M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/loop0                  55M   55M     0 100% /snap/core18/1880
/dev/loop1                  56M   56M     0 100% /snap/core18/1932
/dev/loop2                 256M  256M     0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/36
/dev/loop3                 218M  218M     0 100% /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/60
/dev/loop4                  63M   63M     0 100% /snap/gtk-common-themes/1506
/dev/loop5                  50M   50M     0 100% /snap/snap-store/467
/dev/loop6                  51M   51M     0 100% /snap/snap-store/481
/dev/loop7                  30M   30M     0 100% /snap/snapd/8542
/dev/loop8                  31M   31M     0 100% /snap/snapd/9721
/dev/sda1                  511M  4.0K  511M   1% /boot/efi
tmpfs                      196M   12K  196M   1% /run/user/125
tmpfs                      196M   36K  196M   1% /run/user/1000
192.168.6.119:/home/test    16G  6.8G  7.5G  48% /mnt/test
192.168.6.119:/home/test2   16G  6.8G  7.5G  48% /mnt/test2

After the share folders is mounted then I am enter Into the test directory

root@linuxhelp:~# cd /mnt/test

Inside the test directory I will create some txt files but I cannot create the because the server give only read permission to this directory

root@linuxhelp:/mnt/test# touch test.txt
touch: cannot touch 'test.txt': Read-only file system

Then I am enter into the test2 directory by using cd command

root@linuxhelp:/mnt/test# cd ../test2/

Inside the directory I am create some file on it and the file has been created, here the server can give read and write permission to this folder

root@linuxhelp:/mnt/test2# touch test.txt

Now I am edit the txt file by using vim editor

root@linuxhelp:/mnt/test2# vim test.txt

finally I view the txt file by executing following command

root@linuxhelp:/mnt/test2# cat test.txt 
Welcome to LinuxHelp

With this method, the Installation and configuration of NFS on Linux Mint 20 is comes to an end.

Tag : NFS Linux Mint
FAQ
Q
What are the Services of NFS?
A
nfs translates remote file sharing requests into the local file system requests.
Portmap maps calls from other machines to the correct RPC service (not required with NFSv4).
rpc.mountd service is responsible for mounting and unmounting of file systems.
Q
From where do you give access to share folder on your client machine?
A
I give the access to share folders on client on # /etc/exports file location
Q
Is there any Important commands for NFS?
A
exportfs -r - Refresh the server’ s list after modifying /etc/exports
exportfs -u - Unexports all shares listed in /etc/exports, or given name
exportfs -a - Exports all shares listed in /etc/exports, or given name
exportfs -v - Displays a list of shares files and options on a server
showmount -d - Lists all the sub directories
showmount -e : Lists the available shares at the remote server
showmount -e - Shows the available shares on your local machine
Q
What is purpose of NFS?
A
It is designed in such a way that it supports sharing of folders and files by using a standard client/server architecture.
Q
What is mean by NFS?
A
The Network File System (NFS) is a client/server application that lets a computer user view and optionally store and update files on a remote computer as though
they were on the user's own computer. The NFS protocol is one of several distributed file system standards for network-attached storage (NAS).