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NFS Mount Problem Determination

Technote

Abstract
This technote shows some common NFS mount problems on AIX and gives you some ideas on how
to solve them. These connectivity issues can occur when you are trying to mount an exported IBM
TotalStorage NAS Gateway 500 NFS share from any NFS client (UNIX/AIX/Linux).

Contents
Check if the file system you try to mount is exported

When a mount request is sent to a server for an export that does not exist, the error message shown in the
example below appears.

AIX NFS mounting error 1:

# mount nas500:/nasnfs /nas

mount: 1831-011 access denied for nas500:/nasnfs
mount: 1831-008 giving up on:
nas500:/nasnfs
The file access permissions do not allow the specified action.

Then you must check if the directory you want to mount is actually exported on the NAS Gateway 500. To
check what file systems, directories, or files are exported from NAS Gateway 500, use the showmount
command as follows:

showmount -e <IP address of NAS Gateway 500>

The output from the command shows you the directories exported, and to whom they are exported.

If NAS Gateway 500 doesn’t respond to the showmount command, or the error shown in following example
is reported, you should check if the NFS server daemons are running at NAS Gateway 500.

AIX RPC error:

RPC: 1832-019 Program not registered

Use this command:

rpcinfo -p <IP address of NAS Gateway 500>

The following example shows the output you will get from this command.

rpcinfo on AIX:

# rpcinfo -p 9.1.38.198
program vers proto port service

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100000 4 udp 111 portmapper

100000 3 udp 111 portmapper
100000 2 udp 111 portmapper
100000 4 tcp 111 portmapper
100000 3 tcp 111 portmapper
100000 2 tcp 111 portmapper
100021 1 udp 32772 nlockmgr
100021 2 udp 32772 nlockmgr
100021 3 udp 32772 nlockmgr
100021 4 udp 32772 nlockmgr
100021 1 tcp 32773 nlockmgr
100021 2 tcp 32773 nlockmgr
100021 3 tcp 32773 nlockmgr
100021 4 tcp 32773 nlockmgr
100024 1 tcp 32789 status
100024 1 udp 32798 status
100133 1 tcp 32789
100133 1 udp 32798
200001 1 tcp 32789
200001 1 udp 32798
200001 2 tcp 32789
200001 2 udp 32798

The output shows that the portmap (program 100000) is available, but statd (100024), lockd (100021), nfsd
(100003), and mountd (100005) are not available. This means the NFS server is not up and running. You
must review the NFS exports configuration steps introduced in the beginning of this chapter. Make sure there
is no error generated when you make or modify NFS exports.

The reverse lookup problem on AIX

Sometimes you mount an NFS share through the SMIT menu or command line and get the error message
shown in the following example.

AIX NFS mounting error 2:

# mount nas500:/home /mnt

nfsmnthelp: 1831-019 nas500: System call error number -1.
mount: 1831-008 giving up on:
nas500:/home
System call error number -1.

This is usually caused by the reverse lookup problem, which means NAS Gateway 500 can not resolve AIX
client’s IP address to host name.

There are several ways for the NAS Gateway 500 to make the IP address to host name resolution. The most
widely used methods in the TCP/IP world are DNS system and local file mapping. For availability reasons, we
highly recommend that you use local file mapping, that is, store host to IP address mapping in the /etc/hosts
file on NAS Gateway 500. We just do not want a DNS server outage to bring down the storage system.

Next we explain how to manage the local mapping on NAS Gateway 500.

First of all, you need to build an interactive session to the NAS Gateway 500, either through terminal or
through telnet.

1. Login as root user. Run the command smitty hostent.

2. You will get the smitty Hosts table (/etc/hosts) screen.
3. You can add, remove, and modify local IP addresses to host name mapping entries here. You select
the Add a host task and provide the next host information.The other functions of this menu are also
very straightforward

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After adding all mappings for your storage client, SMITTY will process your input. Following that you can
check your NFS exports using SMITTY to verify, and then try the NFS mount again; the problem should be
solved.

Check the syntax on the mount command

Try to use SMIT menus while mounting a NFS share on AIX instead of long and complex command line
entries, this can help you avoid a lot of errors.

Important: Always remember that only root can issue any mount command, and system group members can
issue mounts, provided they have write access to the mount point.

Special Notices
This material has not been submitted to any formal IBM test and is published AS IS. It has not been
the subject of rigorous review. IBM assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The
use of this information or the implementation of any of these techniques is a client responsibility and
depends upon the client's ability to evaluate and integrate them into the client's operational
environment.

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