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NFS app - expanded capability

Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:29 pm
by nedhedrick
I just installed the NFS app, primarily to use NFS to access Amahi share(s). Upon installation, there is a new share defined, "Nfsexports", which is exported as an NFS share. This seems to work well. However, I would like to expand the NFS environment to include other Amahi shares that are already defined.

Would there be any problems created by adding one of the existing Amahi shares, say "Music" to the NFS exports file ("/etc/exports") allowing read/write access to it via NFS? Or another alternative would be defining a new Amahi share and including it in the /etc/exports file for NFS access as well as access as a normal Amahi share?

Any risks involved?

If not, perhaps an interesting enhancement to the NFS app would be to provide a GUI that would add/delete entries in the /etc/exports file, maybe as part of the Amahi shares definition GUI. This would simplify the process, and provide more security against typos in the file.

Thanks in advance!

Ned Hedrick

Re: NFS app - expanded capability

Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 6:42 pm
by cpg
Not a bad idea, though NFS is really decaying in use (I think it's surprising anyone is using it -- not saying it's bad -- when it works, it's solid enterprise-level quality, but it can be very moody, which could be why people sidelined it).

Maybe file a bug for it in our bug tracker (under platform > plugins) and see if we get to it. Not want to discourage or anything. Maybe someone in the community can do this as a plugin, which would be quicker to release.

For now you may be better off managing things by hand. The risk is to goof something up. I would save everything in a pristine state before you touch it, in case you need to restore things.

Re: NFS app - expanded capability

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:21 pm
by nedhedrick
Thanks, cpg...

I prefer NFS because a) most of my systems are Linux, and b) NFS seems to be significantly faster than CIFS/SAMBA. I'm aware of the issues you reference, but so far I find it to be better in my case.

My primary interest is expanding the NFS shares/exports beyond only the "Nfsexports" folder. I would either like to share one or more of the existing default Amahi shares with NFS, or define some additional shares to be shared by both NFS and CIFS. Do you know if there are any downsides to doing so? My major concern is potential data corruption if a CIFS client and an NFS client attempted file updates at the same time. Or the possibility of a "lock" freezing one of the users in that case.

A GUI for managing NFS shares/exports is simply a "nice to have", however I agree that without a significant audience, it's probably not worth the effort.

Thanks, again!

Ned Hedrick