Preparing for NFS Configuration

Before you configure your machine as an NFS server or client, you must perform the following tasks:

The rest of this section explains the procedures for performing these tasks.

To Check the Network Connections

Issue the /usr/sbin/ping(1M) command for each system with which your system will communicate using NFS.
If the ping(1M) command fails, see the manuals listed below for troubleshooting procedures.

Before you configure NFS, you must have already installed and configured the network hardware and software on all the machines that will use NFS. For information on installing and configuring the network hardware and software, refer to the following manuals:

Installing and Administering LAN/9000 Software

Installing and Administering Token Ring/9000 Software

Installing and Administering FDDI/9000 Software

To Set User IDs and Group IDs (if NIS is not used)

Create one /etc/passwd file and one /etc/group file that contain all the users and groups on the network, and then copy these files to all the machines on the network.
or
Edit the /etc/passwd and /etc/group files on each machine to ensure that the following conditions are true:
- Each user has the same user ID on all machines where that user has an account.
- No two users anywhere on the network have the same user ID.
- Each group has the same group ID on all machines where that group exists.
- No two groups on the network have the same group ID.

When users request NFS access to remote files, their user IDs and group IDs are used to check file ownership and permissions, just as they are locally.

If a user has one user ID on an NFS client and a different user ID on an NFS server, the server will not grant the user access to his or her files on the server, because it thinks the files belong to someone else.

If a user on one machine has the same user ID as a user on another machine, one user may gain access to the other user's files.

For information on the /etc/passwd and /etc/group files, type man 4 passwd or man 4 group at the HP-UX prompt.

If you are using NIS, the /etc/passwd and /etc/group files are managed by a master server, and all other machines on the network request user and group information from the servers. With NIS, it is unnecessary to set user IDs and group IDs on each machine. For instructions on configuring NIS, see Chapter 4 “Configuring and Administering NIS”.

To Ensure that No User is a Member of Too Many Groups

If you are not running NIS, issue the following command for each user on your system:
/usr/bin/grep -c username /etc/group
This command returns the number of occurrences of username in the /etc/group file.
If you are using NIS to manage your group database, issue the following command for each user in your domain:
/usr/bin/ypcat -k group | /usr/bin/grep -c username
This command returns the number of occurrences of username in the NIS group database.
If any user is a member of more than 16 groups, remove the user from some of the groups. See “To Modify an NIS Map” for instructions on modifying an NIS map.
If you are running a version of HP-UX older than release 9.0, a user can be a member of only 8 groups, rather than 16.

If a user is a member of too many groups, NFS returns an RPC authentication error when the user attempts access to files or directories using NFS.

Preparing for NFS Configuration

Technical documentation

» Table of Contents

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To Check the Network Connections

To Set User IDs and Group IDs (if NIS is not used)

To Ensure that No User is a Member of Too Many Groups