Skip to content

Accessing Network Storage

One of the cornerstones of enterprise computing is letting systems share data seamlessly. Enter NFS (Network File System): it lets clients pull from or write to storage on a server as if it were local.

Classic use cases include: - Applications writing logs to a central share - Database servers sharing data files - User home directories in large organizations

Whatever the use case, NFS makes life a lot easier.

Client-Side NFS Setup

This article covers accessing an existing NFS export. If you need to set up the server side first, see Serving Up Network Storage.

Finding an NFS Share

To see what a server is sharing, run:

Show NFS Exports
# showmount -e <Name_of_NFS_Server> or <IP_of_NFS_Server>
showmount -e homeServer # OR
showmount -e 192.168.250.250

The result should resemble:

Sample NFS Export List
Export list for homeServer:
/sharedSpace *

Once you know what’s available, you have two main choices for mounting it: permanently or on-demand with automount.

Option 1: Permanently Mounted

A permanent mount means the NFS share is always present in the Linux File System Hierarchy. To the client, it just looks like another directory.

  • 👍 Pros: always there, seamless for apps and users
  • 👎 Cons: if the NFS server is down, your client may hang or fail to boot

For enterprise systems with “five-nines” uptime, that tradeoff is usually fine.

Install Client Packages

Install NFS Client Package
dnf install nfs-utils # RHEL Family
apt install nfs-common # Debian Family

Add to /etc/fstab

Always back it up first:

Backup /etc/fstab
cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab_bkup

Then add:

Edit /etc/fstab
# <NFS_Server_Name>:/<share_name>   /<mountPoint>   nfs     sync    0 0
homeServer:/                        /share          nfs     sync    0 0

Validate the Mount

mount -a # check if error thrown
mount | grep homeServer # should return some lines
findmnt --verify # should return no issues

If all looks good, reboot and confirm it mounts automatically.

Option 2: Automount

Automounting makes shares available on demand — they appear only when accessed, and disappear when idle.

This is great for:

  • User home directories (only mount them when someone logs in)
  • Occasional writes (e.g., daily log dumps)
  • Reducing overhead when constant connectivity isn’t needed

From a user’s perspective: it “just works” when they need it, but doesn’t clutter the system otherwise.

Install and enable autofs

dnf install autofs # RHEL Family
apt install autofs # Debian Family

# Enable the service
systemctl enable --now autofs
Restart Required After Config Changes

Remember: restart autofs every time you change its config:

Restart autofs
systemctl restart autofs

Configure Automount

Automount uses at least two files: - /etc/auto.master → defines the mount point and its map file - /etc/auto.<shortName> → the specific config for that share

Example:

/etc/auto.master:

Sample /etc/auto.master
# /etc/auto.master
# /<mountPoint> /etc/auto.<configFile>
/share  /etc/auto.share

/etc/auto.share:

Sample /etc/auto.share
# /etc/auto.share
# <wildcard> <read/write> <location>
*   -rw     homeServer:/sharedSpace/&

How it Works

  • The server homeServer shares /sharedSpace.
  • Clients don’t see subdirectories until they’re accessed (i.e. /share/backups).

Conclusion

Whether you go with permanent mounts or automount, NFS is a fundamental tool for enterprise admins. It extends the filesystem across machines, making your infrastructure far more flexible and powerful.

Need the Server Side?

In case you missed it above, Serving Up Network Storage contains the details on how to set up the share drive.