NFS server

An NFS server handles requests from NFS clients that want to access filesystems as NFS mountpoints.

For the server to work, you need to start the following programs:

Name: Purpose:
rpcbind Remote procedure call (RPC) server
nfsd NFS server and mountd daemon

The rpcbind server maps RPC program/version numbers into TCP and UDP port numbers. Clients can make RPC calls only if rpcbind is running on the server.

The nfsd daemon reads the /etc/exports file, which lists the filesystems that can be exported and optionally specifies which clients those filesystems can be exported to. If no client is specified, any requesting client is given access.

The nfsd daemon services both NFS mount requests and NFS requests, as specified by the exports file. Upon startup, nfsd reads the /etc/exports.hostname file (or, if this file doesn't exist, /etc/exports) to determine which mountpoints to service. Changes made to this file don't take affect until you restart nfsd.