NFS mounts

[Robert G. Brown]

On Wed, 2 Jun 1999, Andrew McCabe wrote:

> i read somewhere about mounting a common directory with NFS to move files
> around (ftp is getting annoying)  how would i go about doing this?  my
> server is RH6.0, and the client is RH5.2
> 
> any help would be greatly appreciated

There are a number of documents describing how to do this in the HOWTOs,
usually in /usr/doc somewhere.  Its also described in almost any book on
systems administration, especially in linux-specific ones.  In a
nutshell:

  a) pick a filesystem or directory (e.g. /whattever) to export 
  b) add it to /etc/exports.  read the man page on format, be careful
not to export it promiscuously (that is, to everybody in the known
universe).  Export the directory rw if you want the client to be able to
make changes (e.g. delete or add files)
  c) restart rpc.nfsd and rpc.mountd (kill -1 their pids)

On the client, add a line to /etc/fstab and run mount -a, or just hand
enter "mount server:/whattever /whattever".  Set ownership and
permissions appropriately -- both server and client need to agree about
the uid's of files in /whattever.

A second (perhaps better) alternative is to install and use ssh.  scp is
a secure alternative to ftp, provided that you have accounts on both
systems.

Note that between SOME systems, especially those widely separated by
routers, one may encounter a router set to not pass port 2049.  In this
(sensible!) case one cannot use nfs at all.  Since nfs is fundamentally
insecure over a WAN (IMHO, at least) if your connection passes through
one or more routers you should consider the ssh alternative even if the
routers do pass 2049.

   rgb

> 
> thanx
> --andrew mccabe
> 

Robert G. Brown	                       http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/
Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305
Durham, N.C. 27708-0305
Phone: 1-919-660-2567  Fax: 919-660-2525     email:rgb@phy.duke.edu