46 Mount and unmount network file systems using NFS
*Mounting and Unmounting Network File Systems (NFS)*
NFS (Network File System) allows you to mount remote directories from another machine over the network, making it available as if it were a local directory. Here's a small description of how to *mount* and *unmount* network file systems using NFS.
---
*1. Mount NFS Filesystem*
#### *Step 1: Install NFS Client (if not already installed)*
Before mounting an NFS share, ensure that the NFS client utilities are installed.
On Debian-based systems (e.g., Ubuntu):
```bash
sudo apt-get install nfs-common
```
On Red Hat-based systems (e.g., CentOS):
```bash
sudo yum install nfs-utils
```
#### *Step 2: Mount the NFS Share*
To mount an NFS share, use the `mount` command with the server's IP address or hostname and the path to the shared directory.
**Mount NFS share**:
```bash
sudo mount -t nfs nfs-server-ip:/path/to/share /mnt/nfs
```
Example:
```bash
sudo mount -t nfs 192.168.1.100:/data /mnt/nfs
```
`nfs-server-ip`: The IP address or hostname of the NFS server.
`/path/to/share`: The directory on the NFS server that you want to mount.
`/mnt/nfs`: The local directory where the NFS share will be mounted.
#### *Step 3: Verify the Mount*
To verify that the NFS share has been mounted correctly, use the `df -h` or `mount` command:
```bash
df -h
```
This should show the NFS share mounted at `/mnt/nfs`.
---
*2. Unmount NFS Filesystem*
To unmount an NFS share, use the `umount` command.
#### *Step 1: Unmount the NFS Share*
**Unmount NFS share**:
```bash
sudo umount /mnt/nfs
```
Alternatively, you can unmount it by specifying the NFS server and shared path:
```bash
sudo umount nfs-server-ip:/path/to/share
```
#### *Step 2: Verify the Unmount*
After unmounting, check that the NFS share is no longer mounted:
```bash
df -h
```
If the share was unmounted successfully, it should no longer appear in the list.
---
*3. Auto-Mount NFS at Boot*
To mount the NFS share automatically at boot, add an entry to the `/etc/fstab` file:
#### **Add Entry to `/etc/fstab`**:
```bash
nfs-server-ip:/path/to/share /mnt/nfs nfs defaults 0 0
```
Example:
```bash
192.168.1.100:/data /mnt/nfs nfs defaults 0 0
```
This ensures the NFS share is mounted each time the system starts.
---
*Summary:*
1. **Mount NFS Share**:
```bash
sudo mount -t nfs nfs-server-ip:/path/to/share /mnt/nfs
```
2. **Unmount NFS Share**:
```bash
sudo umount /mnt/nfs
```
3. **Auto-Mount at Boot**:
Add an entry to `/etc/fstab`:
```bash
nfs-server-ip:/path/to/share /mnt/nfs nfs defaults 0 0
```
Mounting and unmounting NFS shares is a straightforward way to share files across a network while ensuring remote directories are easily accessible locally.