Configuring NFS Server and Client on CentOS

NFS (Network File System) allows multiple machines to share a common directory over the network; for example, three hosts A, B, and C can store images in a single directory on A and access it remotely.

Server-side setup

On CentOS, install the required packages with:

yum install -y nfs-utils

The nfs-utils package pulls in rpcbind (replacing the older portmap on CentOS 6+). Edit /etc/exports to define the shared directory and its options, e.g.:

/home/ 192.168.137.0/24(rw,sync,all_squash,anonuid=501,anongid=501)

The line consists of the local path, the allowed client IP/network, and a list of export options such as rw (read‑write), ro (read‑only), sync / async , no_root_squash , root_squash , all_squash , and anonuid/anongid for mapping users.

After saving the file, start the necessary services:

/etc/init.d/rpcbind start; /etc/init.d/nfs start

Client-side mounting

First ensure the client has nfs-utils installed, then list the server’s exports with:

showmount -e 192.168.137.10

Mount the exported directory:

mount -t nfs 192.168.137.10:/home/ /mnt/

Running df -h will show the newly mounted /mnt filesystem.

Managing exports without restarting

The exportfs command (options -a , -r , -u , -v ) applies changes to /etc/exports on the fly. For example, after adding:

/tmp/ 192.168.137.0/24(rw,sync,no_root_squash)

run:

exportfs -arv

which will output the exported paths.

Advanced mounting options

Mount with the -o nolock option to disable file locking:

mkdir /test

mount -t nfs -o nolock 192.168.137.10:/tmp/ /test/

To make the mount persistent, add a line to /etc/fstab :

192.168.137.10:/tmp/ /test nfs nolock 0 0

After editing, unmount the temporary mount and run mount -a to verify the automatic mount works on boot.