September 27, 2013

Netapp exports and nfs.netgroup.strict option

Had issues with hosts mounting NAS qtrees exported from filer earlier and it turned out to be due to nfs.netgroup.strict parameter

per exports man page:  A netgroup can be differentiated from a hostname by prepending an `@’ to the name. When an entry begins with an `@’, ONTAP treats it as netgroup and not a hostname. When an entry does not begin with `@’, the handling depends on the setting of the option nfs.netgroup.strict.

If nfs.netgroup.strict is set, then the `@’ determines whether an entry is either a netgroup or a hostname. In this case, when an entry appears without a prepended `@’, it is assumed to be a hostname, i.e., it cannot be a netgroup.

If nfs.netgroup.strict is not set, then an entry with `@’ will still only denote a netgroup, but the absence of the `@’ does not determine that an entry is a host.