Table of Contents
Network File System (NFS)
The Network File System is the protocol of choice to share files over an internal Local Area Network. Depending on your needs, you may also want to use Samba or the SSH Filesystem additionally or instead.
Preparations
Prerequisites
- usb.essentials obtain basic support for USB.
- usb.storage obtain support for USB storage and mount local filesystem
$IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p tcp --dport 111 #--------- portmap $IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p udp --dport 111 #--------- portmap $IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p tcp --dport 32777:32780 #- nfsd $IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p udp --dport 32777:32780 #- nfsd
The portmap service uses port 111 on both TCP and UDP, nfsd standard are ports between 32777 and 32780 on both TCP and UDP.
It might be necessary to populate /etc/hosts.allow to whitelist NFS clients, insert an entry like portmap: 192.168.1.* then.
Required Packages
Server (OpenWrt)
| Name | Dependencies | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| nfs-kernel-server | libwrap libblkid libuuid kmod-fs-nfsd kmod-fs-nfs portmap | 75854 | Kernel NFS server support |
| libwrap | 7.6-1 | 11286 | Security wrapper library for TCP services |
| libblkid | 1.41.12-1 | 19423 | The blkid library which allows system programs like fsck and mount to quickly and easily find block devices by filesystem UUID and LABEL. |
| libuuid | 1.41.12-1 | 7624 | Library for generating DCE compatible Universally Unique Identifiers. |
| kmod-fs-nfsd | kmod-fs-nfs-common kmod-fs-exportfs | 52882 | Kernel module for NFS kernel server support |
| kmod-fs-exportfs | 2.6.32.27-1 | 3612 | Kernel module for exportfs. Needed for some other modules. |
| kmod-fs-nfs | 2.6.32.27-1 | 86611 | Kernel module for NFS support |
| portmap | 6.0-2 | 7547 | Portmap is a server that converts RPC program numbers into DARPA protocol port numbers. |
| kmod-fs-nfs-common | 2.6.32.27-1 | 133604 | Common NFS filesystem modules |
| nfs-kernel-server-utils | 1.1.6-1 | 14617 | NFS server utils |
| nfs-server | 2.2beta47-1 | 50620 | User Space NFS server |
| nfs-utils | libwrap, libblkid, libuuid, libevent | 33390 | Updated mount.nfs command - allows mounting nfs4 volumes |
| libevent | 1.4.14b-1 | 40436 | The libevent API provides a mechanism to execute a callback function when a specific event occurs on a file descriptor or after a timeout has been reached. Furthermore, libevent also support callbacks due to signals or regular timeouts. libevent is meant to replace the event loop found in event driven network servers. An application just needs to call event_dispatch() and then add or remove events dynamically without having to change the event loop. |
| unfs3 | 0.9.22-1 | 32804 | UNFS3 is a user-space implementation of the NFSv3 server specification. It provides a daemon for the MOUNT and NFS protocols, which are used by NFS clients for accessing files on the server. |
NOTE: You do not need all packages: nfs-kernel-server should suffice.
NOTE: You may need to install kmod-loop manually to fix "mount: can't setup loop device: No such file or directory" errors. (see https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/11541)
Client (your PCs)
GNU/Linux distribution come with pre-installed support for this. So does MacOS X since version 10.2. In case your distribution is missing support, you need to install the client software. ArchLinux offers a Wikipage: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Samba#Configuration.
For Windows download Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX from Microsoft.
You can also use JFtp as an alternative client.
Installation
opkg update opkg install nfs-kernel-server vi /etc/exports . /etc/init.d/portmap start . /etc/init.d/portmap enable . /etc/init.d/nfsd start . /etc/init.d/nfsd enable netstat -a $IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p tcp --dport 111 #------------------- portmap $IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p udp --dport 111 #------------------- portmap $IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p tcp --dport 32777:32780 #----------- nfsd $IPT -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -i eth0.1 -s $NET_LAN -p udp --dport 32777:32780 #----------- nfsd $IPT -t raw -A INPUT -i $IF_LAN -s $NET_LAN -p tcp --dport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #-- don't track nfs $IPT -t raw -A INPUT -i $IF_LAN -s $NET_LAN -p udp --dport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #-- don't track nfs $IPT -t raw -A OUTPUT -o $IF_LAN -d $NET_LAN -p tcp --dport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #- don't track nfs $IPT -t raw -A OUTPUT -o $IF_LAN -d $NET_LAN -p udp --dport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #- don't track nfs
Configuration
We have a typical client «» server configuration.
Server configuration
Use the file /etc/exports to configure your shares. Example:
/mnt/sda2 192.168.1.2,192.168.1.3,192.168.1.4(ro,sync,no_subtree_check)
/mnt/sda3 192.168.1.2(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)
/mnt/sda4 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0(rw,sync,no_subtree_check) |
You can't use the CIDR notation, so /mnt/sda4 192.168.1.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check) would not work, however the above example does.
If you set up pivot-root or pivot-overlay, use the path on /overlay/ partition, else you cannot export mounted fs.
Assuming the daemons are already running, use the command exportfs -ar to reload and apply changes on the fly.
Start on boot
Since opkg-installed init.d scripts are not enabled nor started by default, you need to do this manually. Same procedure as with most (all?) OpenWrt packages: The first commands will will start them right now, the third and fourth will create the symlinks /etc/rc.d/S??portmap and /etc/rc.d/S??nfsd so they get started on boot:
root@OpenWrt:~# /etc/init.d/portmap start root@OpenWrt:~# /etc/init.d/nfsd start root@OpenWrt:~# /etc/init.d/portmap enable root@OpenWrt:~# /etc/init.d/nfsd enable
After start (and after a reboot) verify with top or ps whether the services are running.
The following entries should appear in the process list:
/usr/sbin/rpc.mountd -p 32780 /usr/sbin/rpc.statd -p 32778 -o 32779 /usr/sbin/portmap
Use the netstat -l command to see whether portmap is listening on port 111 for both tcp and udp. The nfsd process may use varying ports.
Client configuration
Linux-Client
Mount manually:
sudo mount 192.168.1.254:/mnt/share1 /home/sandra/nfs_share
Or mount permanently with entries in the /etc/fstab on each client PC:
192.168.1.254:/mnt/sda2 /media/openwrt nfs ro,async,auto 0 0
192.168.1.254:/mnt/sda4 /media/remote_stuff nfs rw,async,auto 0 0 |
Check the manual for mount and take a particular look at the options. Choose wisely.
With portmap running on your OpenWrt-Machine you can use rpcinfo -p 192.168.1.254 on clients side to see open ports. The clients must be in /etc/hosts.allow.
Windows-Client
Java client: JFtp. TODO
Mac OS X-Client
Java client: . TODO
Problems
If the loopback device support is missing, an error like "Cannot register service: RPC: Timed out" may appear. Installing the kmod-loop package should solve this issue.
Performance / Tuning
Maybe you want to compare the read and write performance with that of your samba setup. Post it in the forum or right here:
Do not expect to much. When i started with my RouterStationPro i got 7 MB/s writing to and 10 MB/s reading from it.
Now:
Server:
- echo 4 > /proc/fs/nfsd/threads
- /etc/exports: /mnt/bla 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0(rw,all_squash,insecure,async,no_subtree_check)
- Check out /proc/fs/nfsd/max_block_size if client reports other block size then what you have specified. It can be changed if the server is not running, but nfsd mounted. Now you can echo the right value to it. - Updated by fathom
Client: mount options: udp,async,rsize=32768,wsize=32768,intr,noatime
i get: writing: 15,3MB/s and reading: 17,4MB/s
I have TL-WR1043ND from TP-Link by default it has a throughput of 4,5mb/sec, after tweaking the block size, and the mount options it delivers 9,5 mb/sec. Cheers! (Still on wifi it has a speed of 6 mb/s)
Throughput Issues
Since netfilter will track every connection, if you use MASQUERADING for example, you could disable con-tracking for data connections:
$IPT -t raw -A PREROUTING -i $IF_LAN -s $NET_LAN -p tcp --dport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #---------- don't track nfs $IPT -t raw -A PREROUTING -i $IF_LAN -s $NET_LAN -p udp --dport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #---------- don't track nfs $IPT -t raw -A OUTPUT -o $IF_LAN -d $NET_LAN -p tcp --sport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #---------- don't track nfs $IPT -t raw -A OUTPUT -o $IF_LAN -d $NET_LAN -p udp --sport 32777:32780 -j CT --notrack #---------- don't track nfs
