MacOS – NFS Mount failed and now it says `Device not configured`

macosmountNetworknfs

I have Macbook Pro 2015, running El Capitan 10.11.1 and I am having issues with NFS mounts. I also have an Android TV Box and it mounts NFS without any issues, so I guess the issue is with my laptop. Here is the NFS config(/etc/exports):

/media/mypassport 192.168.2.0/24(insecure,rw,all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000,no_subtree_check)

When I run showmount:

$ showmount -e rpi

Exports list on rpi:
/media/mypassport                   192.168.2.0/24

I mount from Finder > Go > Connect to Server and enter: nfs://rpi/media/mypassport

This mounts my NFS drive, however sometimes it disconnects and I am not able to remount again. I have to restart my machine and keep trying till it doesn't disconnect.

When I ls into /Volumes I get following error:

$ ls

ls: mypassport: Device not configured
Macintosh HD

Whats the issue here? Why it keeps unmounting or gets disconnected? And how do I remount without restarting?

Best Answer

Restart NFS without Rebooting

Issue the following command in Terminal:

sudo nfsd restart

This has the effect of stopping the NFS daemon, starting it back up, rereading your config and processing what's in your /etc/exports

OS X Disconnecting from NFS

Try this:

find . -name ._* | xargs rm on the R-Pi in the directory that gets mounted. That will remove any of the hidden "_filename" files that OS X creates when going through a directory

Based on this Apple Support Forum with similar symptoms: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2733032?start=0&tstart=0

Related Solutions

MacOS – Unable to mount an NFS share

Or just use the "resvport" option with the mount command.

mount -o resvport nasbox.local.com:/try /mnt

macOS – Mount Linux NFS Share on Mountain Lion 10.8.5

I have spent quite a bit of time figuring out automounts of NFS shares in OS X...

Somewhere along the line, Apple decided allowing mounts directly into /Volumes should not be possible:

/etc/auto_master (see last line):

#
# Automounter master map
#
+auto_master        # Use directory service
/net            -hosts      -nobrowse,hidefromfinder,nosuid
/home           auto_home   -nobrowse,hidefromfinder
/Network/Servers    -fstab
/-          -static
/-          auto_nfs    -nobrowse,nosuid

/etc/auto_nfs (this is all one line):

/Volumes/my_mount    -fstype=nfs,noowners,nolockd,noresvport,hard,bg,intr,rw,tcp,nfc nfs://192.168.1.1:/exports/my_share

This will not work (anymore!) though it "should".

$ sudo automount -cv
...
automount: /Volumes/my_mount: mountpoint unavailable

What's the solution?

It's so easy my jaw dropped when I figured it out. Basically, we trick OS X into thinking we're mounting * somewhere else. *

When you're talking about paths in just about any environment, the root folder is the highest path you can reach, whether it's C:\ (windows) or / (*nix)

When you're at this path, attempting to reach the parent path, via .. will keep you at the root path.

For example: /../../../../ is still just /

By now, a few of you have already figured it out.

TL;DR / Solution:

Change your /etc/auto_nfs config from (this is all one line):

/Volumes/my_mount    -fstype=nfs,noowners,nolockd,noresvport,hard,bg,intr,rw,tcp,nfc nfs://192.168.1.1:/exports/my_share

To (this is all one line):

/../Volumes/my_mount    -fstype=nfs,noowners,nolockd,noresvport,hard,bg,intr,rw,tcp,nfc nfs://192.168.1.1:/exports/my_share

And re-run the automounter:

$ sudo automount -cv
...
automount: /Volumes/my_mount: mounted

..... there you go! Technically /../Volumes is still /Volumes, but the automounter does not see things that way ;)

This configuration persists the mount across restarts, and creates the mountpoint automatically.