Installing an NFS server

This guide provides instructions on how to install and configure an NFS server on Rocky Linux 9, including package installation, configuration for sharing the /nfs folder

Step 1: Install Required Packages

  1. Update your system and install the necessary NFS packages:
    • sudo dnf update -y
    • sudo dnf install -y nfs-utils policycoreutils-python-utils 

Step 2: Create the NFS Share Directory

  1. Create the directory you want to share via NFS:
    • sudo mkdir -p /nfs

Step 3: Set Permissions

  1. Set the appropriate permissions for the NFS share directory:
    • sudo chown -R nobody:nogroup /nfs
    • sudo chmod 777 /nfs

Step 4: Configure NFS Exports

  1. Edit the NFS exports file to define which directories to share and with whom:
    • sudo vi /etc/exports
  2. Add the following line to share the /nfs directory with all clients (or specify a particular IP address or range):
    • /nfs *(rw,sync,no_root_squash)

Step 5: Enable and Start NFS Services

  1. Enable and start the NFS server and related services:
    • sudo systemctl enable nfs-server
    • sudo systemctl start nfs-server

Step 6: Configure the Firewall

  1. Allow NFS traffic through the firewall:
    • sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=nfs
    • sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=mountd
    • sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=rpc-bind
    • sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 7: Allow NFS on SELinux on /nfs directory

    
1. Set the appropriate SELinux file context:

 sudo semanage fcontext -a -t nfs_t "/nfs(/.*)?"

2. Apply the file context:

  sudo restorecon -Rv /nfs

3. Set SELinux boolean for NFS:

sudo setsebool -P nfs_export_all_rw on

Step 8: Export NFS Shares

  1. Finally, export the shares defined in the /etc/exports file:
    • sudo exportfs -a

Step 9: Verify the NFS Share

  1. You can verify that the NFS share is active by running:
    • sudo exportfs -v