[colug-432] NFS / Fuse on OpenVZ VPS

[Rob Stampfli]

On Sun, Mar 30, 2014 at 12:03:45PM -0400, Scott McCarty wrote:
> For NFS, just run, everything is done for you:
> 
> yum install nfs-utils
> etc/init.d/nfs restart
> 
> Then, add entries to /etc/exports. Example:
> /srv/data/rhev/data	0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0(rw,fsid=100,no_root_squash)

Thanks for responding, Scott.  Yes, I've done all this.  When I try to
start nfs with "/etc/init.d/nfs start", I get:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
FATAL: Module nfsd not found.
FATAL: Error running install command for nfsd
Starting NFS services:                                     [  OK  ]
Starting NFS quotas: Cannot register service: RPC: Unable to receive; errno = Connection refused
rpc.rquotad: unable to register (RQUOTAPROG, RQUOTAVERS, udp).
                                                           [FAILED]
Starting NFS mountd:                                       [FAILED]
Starting NFS daemon: rpc.nfsd: Unable to access /proc/fs/nfsd errno 2 (No such file or directory).
Please try, as root, 'mount -t nfsd nfsd /proc/fs/nfsd' and then restart rpc.nfsd to correct the problem
                                                           [FAILED]
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I believe the problem is that, while I have root access to my VPS, I
don't "own" my kernel -- it is what the VPS supplier provides for their
VPSes, and I can't change it.  As such, I don't think it will allow me
to load my own modules.  That's why I asked whether it is possible to
determine if their kernel has perhaps been built with the nfsd module
included (and other associated modules required for nfs), so that the
modprobe step is not necessary.  (By default, the directory /proc/fs/nfsd
exists, even if the output above claims to the contrary.)

I said above "I believe the problem is that...", but again, I've never
tried to do this before, so maybe it is due to some cockpit error on
my part.

The fuse package also requires a kernel module, even though ostensibly
it is to provide for "user level" file systems, and thus it raises
similar questions.  (FWIW, I was trying to get Truecrypt to work on
the VPS, and it in turn uses Fuse.)

Actually, I'm rather surprised at the dearth of information in this
area when Googling.  That's why I posed these questions to the pool
of resident experts here.

Rob