The most standard protocol for network file sharing in Linux is NFS, which stands for Network File System. NFS allows a server to share its directories and files with one or more client machines over a network, making them appear as if they were local resources.
This lesson will focus on the configuration of an NFS client, as setting up an NFS server can be a more complex process.
Mounting an NFS Share
To connect to an NFS share, you first need to ensure the NFS client service is running. Then, you can use the mount command to attach the remote directory to a local mount point on your system.
sudo service nfsclient start
sudo mount server:/directory /mount_directoryIn this example, server:/directory is the remote share you want to access, and /mount_directory is the local directory where the share will be mounted.
Using Automount for NFS
If you frequently access an NFS share, you might consider making the mount permanent. While adding an entry to the /etc/fstab file is a common method for local drives, it can cause significant boot delays or even failures if the network connection or NFS server is unavailable during startup.
A better solution for network shares is automount. This service, managed by the automount tool or its modern implementation amd, dynamically mounts a filesystem on-demand. When a file or directory within a specified path is accessed, automount automatically connects to the remote server and mounts the share. This ensures seamless access when needed without impacting the system's boot process.