MacNFSSetup

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UNDER COSTRUCTION, PLEASE SEE THIS POST IN RESERVE COPY

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CLICK HERE

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This howto is based on info gathered from http://sial.org/howto/osx/automount/ and http://i1.dk/misc/automount_nfs_volumes_on_mac_osx/ ,

Setting up OSX4 Macintosh as an NFS client

This howto describes how to set up a mac as an (automount) NFS client mounting its homedirectories from remote directory <code>10.0.0.1:/home</code> to local location <code>/home</code>

Preparation

Before starting, make sure that currently <code>/home</code> is empty. If not, move its contents to another place.

Setting up automount

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1. Using the file manager (for filemanager usage see first point of [MacLdapAuth]), open <code>Applications/Utilities/NetinfoManager</code>
2. Under mounts, create a new directory named after the remote location: <code>10.0.0.1:/home</code> . To create a new directory, click on its parent (mounts), and then either click on the new item or the <code>Directory->New Subdirectory</code> menu item. Chose the name <code>10.0.0.1:/home</code> by editing the name propertie's value.
3. Set up the following properties (Using <code>Directory->New Property</code>):
   1. <code>name=10.0.0.1:/home</code>
   2. <code>dir=/home</code>
   3. <code>type=nfs</code> (or is that <code>vfstype=nfs</code> ?)
4. Set up the opts property to contain the following item. This is done by adding the first item using the <code>Directory->New Property</code> menu item, and additional items using <code>Directory->New Entry</code>.
   1. <code>net</code>
   2. <code>-P</code>
   3. <code>-i</code>

<code>-P</code> is used to tell the Macintosh to use a privileged client port to access the server (or else the server would refuse access), <code>-i</code> is used

Save everything by clicking on another directory within the Netinfo manager (for instance, users). You are then prompted with a dialog asking you whether you want to save (yes), and update the current view (yes)

On some newer version of Leopard, you can edit /etc/fstab directly:

<code>10.0.0.1:/home /home nfs async,intr,soft,-P</code>

And comment out the /home line from /etc/automaster

Testing

1. Before having added <code>net</code>, type <code>sudo mount /home</code> in a terminal. If it succeeds, that we are allowed access to the server. Unmount /home again (<code>sudo umount /home</code>), and proceed to next step. If error, try checking the server's logs to see what is going on (<code>/var/log/message</code>, <code>/var/log/syslog</code>)
2. After having added <code>net</code>, type <code>sudo mount /home</code> again. This time, it should fail with a message saying that <code>/home</code> is owned by automounter. If any other error occurs (such as <code>mount: exec /usr/sbin/mount_ for /home: No such file or directory</code>), make sure <code>/home</code> is empty. A reboot might be needed to after emptying it. If that doesn't help, try removing the <code>/home</code> altogether (automount should be able to re-create it when needed).
3. Reboot you Mac, and try to log in using a server user. Log in should proceed quickly now, and the user should have a view on his homedirectory on the server.