NFS Files

You need several files to support NFS activities on any computer. Many of these files are ASCII, but some of the files are data files. Table 3-1 lists these files and their functions.

Table 3-1 NFS Files

The first entry in /etc/dfs/fstypes is often used as the default file-system type for remote file systems. This entry defines the NFS file-system type as the default.

Only one entry is in /etc/default/fs: the default file-system type for local disks. You can determine the file-system types that are supported on a client or server by checking the files in /kernel/fs.

/etc/default/nfslogd File

This file defines some of the parameters that are used when using NFS server logging. The following parameters can be defined.

CYCLE_FREQUENCY

Determines the number of hours that must pass before the log files are cycled. The default value is 24 hours. This option is used to prevent the log files from growing too large.

IDLE_TIME

Sets the number of seconds nfslogd should sleep before checking for more information in the buffer file. This parameter also determines how often the configuration file is checked. This parameter, along with MIN_PROCESSING_SIZE, determines how often the buffer file is processed. The default value is 300 seconds. Increasing this number can improve performance by reducing the number of checks.

MAPPING_UPDATE_INTERVAL

Specifies the number of seconds between updates of the records in the file-handle-to-path mapping tables. The default value is 86400 seconds or one day. This parameter helps keep the file-handle-to-path mapping tables up-to-date without having to continually update the tables.

MAX_LOGS_PRESERVE

Determines the number of log files to be saved. The default value is 10.

MIN_PROCESSING_SIZE

Sets the minimum number of bytes that the buffer file must reach before processing and writing to the log file. This parameter, along with IDLE_TIME, determines how often the buffer file is processed. The default value is 524288 bytes. Increasing this number can improve performance by reducing the number of times the buffer file is processed.

PRUNE_TIMEOUT

Selects the number of hours that must pass before a file-handle-to-path mapping record times out and can be reduced. The default value is 168 hours or 7 days.

UMASK

Specifies the file mode creation mask for the log files that are created by nfslogd. The default value is 0137.

/etc/nfs/nfslog.conf File

This file defines the path, file names, and type of logging to be used by nfslogd. Each definition is associated with a tag. Starting NFS server logging requires that you identify the tag for each file system. The global tag defines the default values. You can use the following parameters with each tag as needed.

defaultdir=path

Specifies the default directory path for the logging files. Unless you specify differently, the default directory is /var/nfs.

log=path/filename

Sets the path and file name for the log files. The default is /var/nfs/nfslog.

fhtable=path/filename

Selects the path and file name for the file-handle-to-path database files. The default is /var/nfs/fhtable.

buffer=path/filename

Determines the path and file name for the buffer files. The default is /var/nfs/nfslog_workbuffer.

logformat=basic|extended

Selects the format to be used when creating user-readable log files. The basic format produces a log file that is similar to some ftpd daemons. The extended format gives a more detailed view.

If the path is not specified, the path that is defined by defaultdir is used. Also, you can override defaultdir by using an absolute path.

To identify the files more easily, place the files in separate directories. Here is an example of the changes that are needed.

% cat /etc/nfs/nfslog.conf
#ident  "@(#)nfslog.conf        1.5     99/02/21 SMI"
#
  .
  .
# NFS server log configuration file.
#

global  defaultdir=/var/nfs \
        log=nfslog fhtable=fhtable buffer=nfslog_workbuffer

publicftp log=logs/nfslog fhtable=fh/fhtables buffer=buffers/workbuffer

In this example, any file system that is shared with log=publicftp uses the following values:

• The default directory is /var/nfs.

• Log files are stored in /var/nfs/logs/nfslog*.

• File-handle-to-path database tables are stored in /var/nfs/fh/fhtables.

• Buffer files are stored in /var/nfs/buffers/workbuffer.

For procedural information, refer to How to Enable NFS Server Logging.