Sun developed the Network Filesystem (NFS) as a way to share files among several computers as if those files were local. Linux includes support for NFS, as detailed in Chapter 8, File Sharing via NFS. To mount remote NFS exports, you must include NFS support in the kernel. Most Linux NFS servers also rely on support in the kernel. Both client and server NFS options reside in the Network File Systems submenu off of the File Systems menu, not in the Networking Options menu. Specifically, options you might want to activate include the following:
• NFS File System Support— This option enables basic NFS client support (that is, the ability to mount remote NFS exports as if they were local disk partitions). Enable it if you want to mount NFS directories exported by other computers.
• Provide NFSv3 Client Support— NFS has undergone various revisions, the latest of which is version 3 (NFSv3). This support must currently be explicitly enabled, because it's not as reliable as is support for older versions of NFS, as activated by NFS File System Support. The NFSv3 support relies on the basic NFS support.
• Root File System on NFS— If you select IP: Kernel Level Autoconfiguration in the Networking Options menu, you can select this option, which lets Linux mount its root filesystem from an NFS export. You'll normally only use this option on workstations that lack hard disks.
• NFS Server Support— To have Linux function as an NFS server (that is, to make some or all of its directories available to other computers), you need to run an NFS server. This option provides acceleration features for NFS servers that are written to take advantage of it. This option is not strictly required to run an NFS server, but it's generally a good idea to include it, since most Linux NFS servers are written to expect this support.
• Provide NFSv3 Server Support— If you want to run a kernel-aware NFS server for clients that understand NFSv3, activate this option. As with NFSv3 client support, this option relies upon the matching generic NFS support.
NFS is used mainly by Unix and Linux systems. File sharing between other platforms is usually handled by other tools, one of which is discussed next.
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