Manage NFS Exports

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When Data ONTAP receives a mount request from a client, it compares the path name in the mount request to the path names of the exported resources contained in the /etc/exports file. If Data ONTAP finds a match, the NFS client can mount the resource. FilerView enables you to insert and modify export lines in the file, add options to an existing line for specific hosts, and delete an existing export line. You can then export all resources for client access.

The Manage NFS Exports page enables you to manage NFS exports on the filer. NFS clients can mount resources only after the resources have been exported, that is, made available for mounting.

You can export a resource to the following targets:

• Hosts

• Netgroups—When exporting a resource, if you do not want to list names of individual hosts as targets, you can specify a predefined netgroup as the target.

• Subnets—Exporting to a subnet has the same effect as exporting to individual hosts on that subnet, but gives you the convenience of not having to list individual host names. If all hosts on the same subnet should mount the same resource, export the resource to the subnet.

When exporting a resource, remember the following rules:

• You must specify the complete path name for a resource to be exported.

• You cannot export /vol, which is not a path name to a file, directory, or volume. If you want to export all volumes on the filer, you must export each volume separately.

• Each line within the /etc/exports file can contain up to 4,096 noncommented characters. The number of characters allowed for comments is unlimited.

How exports work

The /etc/exports file contains a list of resources that can be exported. When the filer is rebooted, Data ONTAP exports all resources in this file. 

The /etc/exports file specifies the following types of information:

• Complete path name of each resource to be exported.

• Targets to which each resource is exported. Targets are optional.

• Access restrictions with which each resource can be mounted. Access restrictions are optional.

The following rules determine how a resource is exported:

• If the entry contains only the path name of a resource, that resource can be mounted as read-only by all hosts.

• If the entry contains the path name of a resource followed by options, the resource is exported with access restrictions, which determine the following:

• Which targets have permission to mount the resource

• Type of access allowed for each target (for example, read-only, read-write, or root)

• UID of the user mounting the resource