---
title: Using NFS shares on a Raspberry Pi
aliases:
    - /posts/2022-08-07-using-nfs-on-a-raspberry-pi
    - /posts/2022-08-07-using-nfs-shares-on-a-raspberry-pi
summary: >
  A quick and short guide on how to setup an NFS share on a
  Raspberry Pi.
date: 2022-08-07T07:19:54+02:00
categories: [computerstuff]
tags: [linux,networking,raspberry-pi]

---

I use this mainly on my amateur radio hotspot when I work on my sleek dashboard.

This setup lets me edit the php-files on my computer while I use the already
installed webserver as a development server to view the actual changes/progress.
The advantage of that is: I don't have to feed pseudo-random data into the tables,
the data gets pulled live from the logs -- like it would be on the final system.

## Installation and configuration

~~~console
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install nfs-kernel-server
~~~

~~~console
$ sudo vim /etc/exports
~~~

We have to export our directories in the file `/etc/exports` on our Raspberry Pi.

~~~plain
# file: "/etc/exports"
/var/www/html     192.168.1.123(rw,async,all_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000)
/opt/MMDVMDash    192.168.1.123(rw,async,all_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000)
~~~

So we allow `192.168.1.123` read- and write-access to the directories above.

{{< alert circle-info >}}
For the record: my user on my laptop (192.168.1.123) has the same UID (1000)
as my user on the Raspberry Pi (192.168.1.124).
{{< /alert >}}

Also edit `/etc/hosts.allow` to grant access for your network or host.

~~~plain
# file: "/etc/hosts.allow"
ALL: 192.168.1.123
~~~

After we changed the contents of `/etc/exports` we have to run the `exportfs`
command and restart the nfs-server.

~~~console
$ sudo exportfs -ra
$ sudo systemctl restart nfs-server.service
~~~

## Accessing the directories

I usually look at the logs on my Raspberry Pi with `journalctl -fe` and let
this running.

Now on my laptop in my home directory. I create a temporary directory with
`mkdir tmp` and try to mount the nfs share into that. On most linux systems
only **root** is allowed to use mount without an entry in `/etc/fstab`.

So we run

~~~console
$ sudo mount 192.168.1.124:/var/www/html tmp/
~~~

and if it does not print anything, all is good. On the Raspberry Pi you should
see a new line looking like:

~~~plain
raspi4 rpc.mountd[30223]: authenticated mount request from 192.168.1.123:894 for /opt/MMDVMDash/html (/opt/MMDVMDash/html)
~~~

{{< alert circle-info >}}
**To eliminate the confusion:** I've mounted `/var/www/html` but the log shows
`/opt/MMDVMDash/html`. This is because `/var/www/html` is currently a symbolic
link to `/opt/MMDVMDash/html`. But if I remove the symlink and replace it with
real files the export will still work.  
{{< /alert >}}

And that's it. Unmount with `sudo umount tmp/` and we should create an entry
in our `/etc/fstab` file to let the system mount this share when starting.

When unmounting, you should see another line on your Raspberry Pi.

~~~plain
raspi4 rpc.mountd[30223]: authenticated unmount request from 192.168.1.123:696 for /opt/MMDVMDash/html (/opt/MMDVMDash/html)
~~~

## Creating entries in our `/etc/fstab` file

First, let us create a directory on our laptop.

~~~console
$ mkdir -p ~/raspi4/html
~~~

~~~plain
# file: "/etc/fstab"
192.168.1.124:/var/www/html  /home/dominic/raspi4/html   nfs       noauto,users,nodev,async,soft,_netdev,x-systemd.automount,x-systemd.device-timeout=1,x-systemd-idle-timeout=1min,x-systemd.mount-timeout=10,timeo=10,retry=3   0       0
~~~

After changing that file, make sure to reload Systemd with
`sudo systemctl daemon-reload`.

Mount them from your home directory with `mount raspi4/html`. The same line
should appear on your Raspberry Pi (if you still have `journalctl -fe` running!).

You may use less confusing settings in your `fstab` file, but I'm going with
those from above on my Manjaro box, as I also use other NFS shares on my NAS and
it turned out those work best for my scenario for now.

You could try by only using `noauto,users,nodev,async` as a starting point. If
it fails, try adding only `_netdev` first -- I can't exactly remember why, but I
keep thinking I researched this a while back and sticked with it.