Linux NFS and Automounter Administration (Craig Hunt Linux Library)

By Erez Zadok

The Network File System (NFS) is the most popular distributed file system for Linux and Unix clients, enabling users to access files located on servers with the same ease as files located on the desktop. The Automounter Daemon (Amd) automatically mounts remote servers and local resources on an as-needed basic, improving a network's reliability and scalability.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0782127398
• ISBN13: 9780782127393
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Sybex Inc
• Length: 700 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

The Definitive Guide to NFS and the Berkeley Automounter

This book is the most complete guide to NFS and to amd. If you administer NFS, you will find answers to questions here that are answered nowhere else. The book is in three sections: (1) NFS, (2) amd, and (3) Appendices. The first section speaks on NFS. It details all of the different daemons used by NFS, what they are for, and how they work. Configuring NFS is discussed at length, and from both sides (client and server). Securing NFS warrants an entire chapter, too, including server-side security, client-side security, and recovering NFS after a break-in. They discuss the troubleshooting of NFS problems, and what can go wrong. There is coverage of NFS version 4, and building and installing NFS under Linux. Section two speaks of the Berkeley Automounter Daemon, or amd. Erez Zadok is the maintainer of amd, and clearly knows his material quite well - and can explain it well, too. He spends a considerable amount of time explaining how to configure amd, including how to create maps and the different map options available. There is a chapter on run-time administration of amd, and a detailed chapter on advanced uses of amd - including automounted /home directories, CDROM mounts, NFS server failovers, and more. Another chapter is on autofs (which is different from amd!) and of the autofs support contained in amd. The last chapter in this section is on building and installing amd for Linux. The Appendices detail the files contained in the source package, and also list online resources for amd and NFS. There is also a section on amd and NFS log messages and errors, as well as one on amd configuration file parameters and command flags. The inside leaf (front and back) of this book contains a reference chart of common NFS mount and export flags. I have used this book quite a lot, and refer to it frequently. The writing is fluid and easy to comprehend, and the index (36 pages) is extensive. This book contains details on NFS that exist nowhere else, and it is THE manual for amd. Despite the title, this is not a Linux-centric book. If you use amd or NFS (on Linux or not), get this book - you won't be sorry.

Not for the timid, nor the newbie...

When people say RTFM when asked questions about NFS, this is "The ...er.. FINE ... Manual" they should be refering to.Erez has been in charge of the care & feeding of NFS on the Linux platform and knows his charges well. This book (and this series as a whole) is well writen with the experienced SysAdmin in mind. You do not need to know NFS for this book to help you, but you do need to know basic Sys Admin concepts and techniques.I have been running NFS on various Unicies for years and found this to be a great resource for NFS/Automount on not only the Linux side, but on Solaris, HPUX, AIX and *BSD as well.If you intend to run a secure, stable and speedy NFS server, you MUST read this book. Erez helps you avoid the gotchas and pitfalls most people hit when running NFS for the first, or hundreth time.This book really should have the word Linux removed from its title, not because it doesnt cover it, but because the book shouldnt limit its readership by it.

Sheds light on the black art

I always thought configuring a Samba server for solid and secure operations was a black art until I started using NFS. My first NFS installation had security holes you could drive a truck through, fortunately it was two highly paranoid firewalls away from the internet.If you are intent on having an NFS server in your network then you will need help. Who better to give it to you than the man who has been looking after the Linux NFS and automount code for several years. Zadok certainly knows his stuff.The Craig Hunt Linux Library, the Sybex imprint that publishes this book, is quickly rising in my esteem. This is the second volume I've bought (the other was Auld's "Linux Apache Web Server Administration") and both have been absolute winners.I most appreciate that it does not waste time with any unnecessary details about Linux or Unix but gets straight down to the topic at hand (in this case a marvellous description of NFS design and workings.) A good way to go since most of the people, myself included, who will buy this book already have a fair amount of Linux knowledge or will buy a volume that can afford the more basic topics more space.Second is that it covers both the server and client side with enough detail. It doesn't talk down to you while at the same time it makes almost no assumptions about your level of NFS knowledge.Third is that while it says "Linux" in the title, in just the same way that Auld's book on Apache can be used by any Apache owner (and that includes Macintosh OS X), this book is useful for anyone using NFS on a Unix or Unix derivative such as BSD, Solaris or Mac OS X. In fact one of the server and client configurations I performed with the help of this book was on my personal Mac OS X box. That doesn't deny that there are minor differences in some implementations, particularly with automount and status software but in my experience they have been minor.If you intend to run NFS on a server then this book should be sitting beside the computer as you carefully check the configuration. I recommend this book to everyone, a "must buy."

Outstanding, Relevant, and very useful to Sys. Admins.

I was pleased to find that this book does not spend the first 100 pages or so talking about the history of Linux or how to install Linux. This is not for the newbie.That said, it *is* a very readable book. The concepts are explained very thoroughly in plain english, and everything is illustrated using examples that are very relevant to real-life admin work on systems in a heterogenous environment. There's no way I can say, within the 1000 word limit, how good this book is. I *will* say that even if O'Reilly released a book on this same topic tomorrow, I wouldn't bother to buy it - there's no way anyone is going to cover this material better than the guy who has been maintaining the code and mailing lists for the past five years! :) ....If you're an admin using NFS and any type of automounter, you would do well to have this book.