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Using NFS on Linux to Share Directories Across Servers

2026-06-23

NFS, short for Network File System, is a network-based file sharing mechanism supported on Linux and FreeBSD systems. It allows machines on the same TCP/IP network to share directories and files so that a client can read and write remote data almost as if it were accessing a local filesystem.

In practical Linux administration, NFS is commonly used for data sharing between Linux servers.

NFS basics

The core packages involved are:

  • nfs-utils
  • rpcbind

The export configuration file is:

  • /etc/exports

A typical entry in /etc/exports follows this format:

directory client_address(options)

Examples of client address definitions:

  • Single host IP: 192.168.196.131
  • Network segment: 192.168.196.0/24

Common permission and behavior options include:

  • ro — read-only
  • rw — read/write
  • sync — synchronous write
  • async — asynchronous write

User mapping options:

  • all_squash — files uploaded by any client user are mapped to nfsnobody
  • root_squash — files uploaded by the client’s root user are mapped to nfsnobody
  • no_root_squash — files uploaded by the client’s root user remain owned by root
  • anonuid=<number>
  • anongid=<number>

Example: share /wedata from one Linux host

In this example, the Linux server uses 192.168.196.131, and the directory /wedata is shared so that 192.168.196.132 can mount it in read-only mode.

1. Install the required software

[root@wei ~]# yum -y install rpcbind nfs-utils

2. Create the shared directory and test files

[root@wei ~]# mkdir /wedata
[root@wei ~]# touch /wedata/{1..10}.html

3. Edit /etc/exports

[root@wei ~]# vim /etc/exports

Add the following line:

/wedata 192.168.196.132(ro)

This means /wedata is exported to 192.168.196.132 with read-only access.

4. Restart the related services

[root@wei ~]# systemctl restart rpcbind
[root@wei ~]# systemctl restart nfs-server

There is also another command sequence shown below:

image

5. Verify the exported directory locally

[root@wei ~]# showmount -e localhost
Export list for localhost:
/wedata 192.168.196.132

If /wedata appears in the export list, the NFS share is being published correctly.

Mounting the NFS share on the client

The client also needs the required NFS-related software installed.

Then mount the shared directory:

[root@zhang ~]# mount 192.168.196.131:/wedata /web/
[root@zhang ~]# ls /web/
10.html 1.html 2.html 3.html 4.html 5.html 6.html 7.html 8.html 9.html

At this point, the client can access the files exported from the server through /web/.

Mount the share automatically at boot

To make the NFS mount persistent after reboot, edit /etc/fstab on the client:

[root@zhang ~]# vim /etc/fstab

Add this entry:

192.168.196.131:/wedata /web nfs defaults 0 0

After that, the system can mount the NFS share automatically during startup.

image

image

About permission adjustments

NFS permission handling depends on the actual use case. Options such as root_squash, no_root_squash, all_squash, anonuid, and anongid can be adjusted as needed.

image

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