Managing and Creating NFS Exports

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Last updated: Apr 13, 2023 by Sean HastertVersion comment
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Overview

You can configure the volume for sharing as NFS Share so that storage is available for use by the applications, servers and clients on the network.

Exported Files Grid

The Exported Files Grid displays the list of all exports in a tabular grid format. It has the following fields.

Field

Description

Directory

It is the name of the directory that is shared.

Exported To

It shows the users to whom the directory is exported.

Selecting All Exports

You can select all exports. To do so, simply click the Select All button.

All the exports in the list will be selected.

Inverting Selection

You can invert the selection of exports. To do so, simply click the Invert Selection button.

The selection of the exported directories in the list will be inverted.

Adding a New NFSv3/NFSv4 Export

Before you can add an NFS Share, you need to create a volume to share.
  1. Click the link corresponding to which type of NFS share you want to create.
    1. Add a new NFSv3 export
    2. Add a new NFSv4 export

  2. In the Directory to export field, click the button to select the directory that you wish to export.

  3. Set the Active field to Yes.

  4. In the Export to field, specify the method in which you want to export.  In this example, we export to everyone for simplicity.

  5. In the Security levels section, select the options that fit your deployment.

  6. Set Read-only to No.

  7. Set the Disable Subtree Checking field to Yes.

  8. Set the Immediately Sync All Writes filed to No.

    For best performance throughput, choose No for Immediately Sync All Writes field. This option allows SoftNAS to cache the write and return to the caller immediately (up to 10 times better throughput has been observed by not immediately sync'ing writes, so No setting makes a big difference in performance sensitive applications).
  9. Specify the untrusted users in Treat untrusted users as Default or softnas.

  10. Set Use crossmnt to No.

  11. Set Clients must be on secure port to No.

  12. Set Hide the filesystem to Yes.

  13. Set Trust remote users to Nobody.

    If you are planning to mount this NFS share from VMware, you must select Nobody as the Trust Remote Users choice. VMware hosts do not authenticate by default, so it's also best to restrict the IP address range appropriately.
  14. Specify the untrusted groups in Treat untrusted groups as Default or softnas.

  15. Once configurations are complete, click Create.
  • Click the Apply Changes button. The NFS export settings will be activated. 

Deleting an Export

You can delete an unused export.

  1. Select the export that you wish to delete from the list.

  2. Click the Delete Selected Exports button in the toolbar. The message that you are not exporting directory will be displayed.

  3. Click the Apply Changes button. The selected export will be removed from the list. 

Disabling an Export

You can disable an export.

  1. Select the export that you wish to disable from the list.

  2. Click the Disable Selected button in the toolbar. The selected export will be disabled and an inactive status will be shown.

Enabling an Export

You can enable an export.

  1. Select the export that you wish to enable.

  2. Click the Enable Selected button in the toolbar.  The selected export will be enabled.

Applying Changes

After you make changes to the NFS exports, you can click the Apply Changes button to apply the changes made to the exports.