Configuring the Network File System (NFS)

Enabling users to mount filesystems

In the Filesystem Manager, select Add Mount Configuration or Modify Mount Configuration from the Mount menu, then select Yes for ``Can Users Mount''.

NOTE: You can also enable user mounting transparently using automount(NADM). If you create an automount map for a filesystem exported from a remote machine, the filesystem is mounted automatically whenever the filesystem or one of its files is accessed. Such a mount is transparent to the user, and the filesystem unmounts automatically after a certain period of inactivity. See ``Configuring the NFS automounter'' for details.

Under normal circumstances, only root, programs run as root, and users with the sysadmin and backup (or queryspace) authorizations can mount and unmount filesystems with the Filesystem Manager or the mount(ADM) and umount(ADM) commands. However, when you select this mount option for a filesystem, you can enable users to mount and unmount the filesystem using the mnt(C) and umnt(C) commands. The mnt command allows users other than root to access the functionality of mount for that particular filesystem.

For example, if you enable users, they can mount the /usr filesystem by entering:

mnt /usr

To unmount the filesystem, users enter:

umnt /usr

NOTE: For reasons of security, it is not a good idea to allow users to mount floppy filesystems.

Instruct your users in these proper mounting procedures:

Unmount filesystems when not in regular use.
You cannot use mnt and umnt if your current working directory is under the mount point for the filesystem that you want to unmount. For example, if the current working directory is /usr/mark and you try to unmount /usr, you see:
```
   unmount: filesystem busy:  Device busy
```
To unmount the filesystem, you must change to a directory that is not under the filesystem mount point and issue the umnt command again.
You can display a list of mounted filesystems with mnt. The mnt -t command lists all the local and remote filesystems known to the system (the contents of the /etc/default/filesys file). If the value of ``Mount if requested'' is No, regular users cannot mount the filesystem.