How to set up an NFS server (Red Hat/Centos 6.x)

How to Install NFS Server on Red Hat/Centos 6.x

NFS stands for (Network File System) it is a mechanism used by UNIX like hosts to share files across networks. There are two versions mostly used NVFv3 and NFSv4 – there are many differences between both. I am not going to cover them.

NFS used to be dependent on a service called portmap and used port 111, which was a bit flaky. NFS is much more reliable and faster than it used to be; we can run it over TCP and across firewalls. I am not going to demonstrate it on this post.

I am not going to go over discussions about security, and how to lock down your NFS server, or open iptables ports. I assume your iptables will be off. Security is a very complex and deep subject. My intention is only to give you the knowledge to set up an NFS quickly and start using it.

Perhaps I’ll write another post on how to secure your NFS server.

Packages requirement

·         nfs

·         nfslock

·         rpcbind

The following RPC processes facilitate NFS services:

·         rpc.mountd

·         rpc.nfsd

·         lockd

·         rpc.statd

·         rpc.rquotad

·         rpc.idmapd

Installing Packages

·         nfs-utils.x86_64

·         nfs-utils-lib.x86_64

·         rpcbind.x86_64

[root@centos63 ~]# yum install nfs-utils.x86_64 nfs-utils-lib.x86_64 rpcbind.x86_64 –y

Services to start at boot time

You need to make sure some important services are running.

 

[root@centos63 ~]# chkconfig --level 2345 rpcbind on

[root@centos63 ~]# chkconfig --level 2345 nfs on

[root@centos63 ~]# service rpcbind start

[root@centos63 ~]# service nfs start

 

Setting up the NFS export

[root@centos63 ~]# mkdir /nfs

[root@centos63 ~]# vi /etc/exports   

 

Add the line below, save and quite the file

/nfs    *(rw)

 

Note: The line about means - export /nfs folder to any client with read and write permissions.

I advise locking it down a bit and export it to your subnet, or single IPs.

[root@centos63 ~]# exportfs –a

[root@centos63 ~]# exportfs

/nfs            <world>

Note: The above command will export your folder configuration.

 

Let’s test it?!

[root@centos63 ~]# mount -t nfs localhost:nfs /media/

[root@centos63 ~]# df -h

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on

/dev/mapper/VolGroup-lv_root

                       47G  1.2G   44G   3% /

tmpfs                 499M     0  499M   0% /dev/shm

/dev/sda1             485M   73M  387M  16% /boot

localhost:nfs          47G  1.2G   44G   3% /media

It works; see the line in red above. This tells us that the file system /nfs is mounted on /media from host ‘localhost’, which is just the same server.

I hope you enjoy this post.

I will at some point write about more complex scenarios, but I would like to give you the initial knowledge, so you can get up and running quickly.

 

By Renato de Oliveira

Netwok design, install and configuration

Netwok design, install and configuration

I have decided to share with you my experiences and I will show you most things about networks.

I am going to start from scratch and write posts on how to:

• How to Install Windows 2008
• Setup network
• Active Directory
• DNS
• DHCP
• etc
• How to Install Redhat 6
• Setup the Network
• Integrate Linux to Active directory
• Setup most config files under /etc
• NFS
• SAMBA
• How to Set up Citrix
• How to Setup Juniper SRX Security gateway
• How to Setup NetApp Ontap 8.1

I am going to give you ideas on how to plan your AD, your DNS naming, your IP address scheme, how to position your clients on the network.
I will discuss DMZ, VLANs, Security, SSH, Locking down Linux.

I will have recommendations on security, patch management, for Windows. Design considerations for your network.
Resiliency and redundancy will be discussed also.

If you want to benefit from this blog, just keep visiting it, it will be your stop shop for most Network systems.

My plan is to every day write a new post about some topic.

I have already few posts and I will make the link between each post, so you can easily follow up.

If you have suggestions, please let me know I will try my best to accomodate your suggestions and also write about them.

I hope you will enjoy and learn all this exciting stuff related to IT.

Many thanks

Renato Oliveira

Setup a Redhat Kickstart Server

Setup a Redhat Kickstart Server

During the Data Centre project, I had to install and configure quite few Linux servers and to make my file easier I configured a Redhat kickstart server.
What this server does is. it allows you to automate the install of multiple servers and replicate the same configuration multiple times. This will make your life much easier.

If you get your kiscksart server right in the end you will need to make very few changes to  all servers, thus reducing your support time and manual errors.

The first things is to install a Linux server. It can be Centos or Redhat. I'll use Centos so I don't need to buy a Redhat license.

I am going to describe first how to setup a kickstart using Apache to install servers using HTTP.

Once the server is fully up and running..

Necessary Software:

• Apache (httpd package)
• nfs-utils-lib
• nfs-utils
• nfs-utils-lib-devel

Step by Step
1. Create an Apache Virtual Host
# vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/kickstart.conf
NameVirtualHost 172.16.180.222 (replace with your server's IP)
<VirtualHost 172.16.180.222> (replace with your server's IP)
        ServerName 172.16.180.222 (replace with your server's IP)
        DocumentRoot /var/www/data/
</VirtualHost>
<Directory /var/www/data/install>
   Options +Indexes
   AllowOverride AuthConfig
   order allow,deny
   allow from all
</Directory>

2. Restart Apache
# service httpd restart

3. Create kickstart folder structure
# mkdir -p /var/www/data/install/RPM
# mkdir -p /var/www/data/source
# mkdir -p /var/www/data/ISO
4. Download Centos iso image
# cd /var/www/data/ISO
# wget http://mirrors.coreix.net/centos/6.3/isos/x86_64/CentOS-6.3-x86_64-bin-DVD1.iso

5. Mount the Centos ISO image
# mount -o loop /var/www/data/ISO/CentOS-6.3-x86_64-bin-DVD1.iso /var/www/data/source

Note: to make this change permanent. You need to edt /etc/fstab
# vi /etc/fstab
add the line below
 /var/www/data/install/ISO/CentOS-6.0-x86_64-bin-DVD1.iso /var/www/data/install/source/ iso9660 loop 0 0
6. Create the Kickstart script:
# vi /var/www/data/install/ks.cfg
add the lines below

# Kickstart generated by Renato de Oliveira
install
url --http://172.16.180.222/install/
lang en_US.UTF-8
keyboard uk
network --device eth0 --bootproto dhcp
rootpw --iscrypted u09u0ojhu0uujoh9y
firewall --disabled
authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5
selinux --disabled
timezone --utc Europe/London
bootloader --location=mbr --driveorder=sda
clearpart --all --drives=sda

part /boot --fstype ext3 --size=150
part swap --size=10000

part pv.01 --size=15000
volgroup vg_root pv.01
logvol  /  --vgname=vg_root  --size=12000  --name=lv0_root
part pv.02 --size=120000
volgroup vg_local pv.02
logvol /local --vgname=vg_local --size=110000 --name=lv0_local
part pv.03 --size=5000
volgroup vg_afscache pv.03
logvol /local/afs.cache --vgname=vg_afscache --size=4000 --name=lv0_afscache
part pv.04 --size=5000
volgroup vg_log pv.04
logvol /var/log --vgname=vg_log --size=4000 --name=lv0_log
part pv.05 --size=5000
volgroup vg_lvvartmp pv.05
logvol /var/tmp --vgname=vg_lvvartmp --size=4000 --name=lv0_vartmp
part pv.06 --size=5000
volgroup vg_lvtmp pv.06
logvol /tmp --vgname=vg_lvtmp --size=4000 --name=lv0_tmp

%packages
@core
@ X Window System
@ Desktop
@ Sound and Video
bzip2
bash
wget
 
%post
# Turn services off
chkconfig  --level 2345 atd off
chkconfig  --level 2345 bluetooth off
chkconfig  --level 2345 cups off
chkconfig  --level 2345 gpm off
chkconfig  --level 2345 ip6tables off
chkconfig  --level 2345 postfix off
chkconfig --level 2345 NetworkManager off
chkconfig --level 2345 iptables off
chkconfig --level 2345 avahi-daemon off
chkconfig --level 2345 mcelogd off
# Turn necessary services on
chkconfig --level 2345 smb on
chkconfig --level 2345 nslcd on
chkconfig --level 2345 ntpd on
chkconfig --level 2345 postfix on

Note: Save the file and you are almost ready.
Assuming we will use a physical server to install Redhat on.

7. Write the ISO DVD to a DVD media

8. Boot the the server to be installedwith the DVD image you just created.
At boot time type:
linux ks=http://172.16.180.222/install/ks.cfg

 That should give you a fully installed server.

If you want to customise the Kisckstart server, there are many options you can use to automate the install.
 


by Renato de Oliveira