You might see the following types of NFS error messages:
The following error messages are issued
to the screen or console or sent to the
syslogd
daemon.
authget: unknown authflavor
n
authflavor
Explanation: Each NFS request has an authentication type. This message is displayed if the type is not AUTH_UNIX.
User Action: Have the client application use the AUTH_UNIX authentication type.
fh3tovp: bad length:
n
Explanation: A client sent a bad file handle to the server.
NFS request from unprivileged port, source IP address =
n
Explanation: The server, performing NFS server port monitoring, received an NFS request from a nonprivileged port (greater than or equal to 1024) on a client. This might indicate a security problem.
NFS server: fs(n,n
) not mounted; client address =
n.n.n.n
Explanation: The client requested a file on a file system that is not mounted or does not exist on the server. This can occur if a file system is unmounted while clients are using it or if the client passed an invalid file handle.
User Action: Make sure that the appropriate file system is mounted on the NFS server. If the file system is mounted on the same device, have the client system retry the operation. If the file system is mounted on a different device, have the client system unmount and remount the remote file system.
NFS server: stale file handle fs(n,n
) file
file
gen
n
,client address =
n.n.n.n
errno
n
Explanation: The client accessed a file that no longer exists. The file was deleted either by the server or by another client.
NFS server: unexported fs(n,n
) file
file
,
client address =
n.n.n.n
Explanation:
A client that
previously had access to a file system can no longer access the file system,
either because of changes in the
/etc/exports
file or in
net group mapping.
User Action: Have the client system unmount the file system.
rfs_dispatch botch
Explanation: The duplicate request cache routine returned an illegal value.
rfs_dispatch: bad rfs reply
n
ret
Explanation: A server routine did not return a value or returned an incorrect value.
rfs_dispatch: dispatch error, no reply
rfs_dispatch: sendreply failed
Explanation: Possible reasons for this message include the following:
The server is out of memory and cannot process or reply to a request.
The server cannot find a route to the source.
Some other network-related problem.
too many nfsds
Explanation:
More
nfsd
daemons registered with NFS than were started.
This appendix provides an explanation and suggested user actions for the following classes of client error messages:
Within each section, error messages are listed alphabetically.
D.2.1 Remote Mount Error Messages
The following error messages are displayed if you are mounting directories or file systems from remote systems:
Don't know how to mount
xxx
Explanation:
There is no
entry in the
/etc/fstab
file for the argument you specified
on the mount command line.
User Action:
Edit the
/etc/fstab
file and verify that the mount point or remote file system exists.
/etc/fstab: No such file or directory
Explanation:
The
/etc/fstab
file does not exist.
The
mount
command
discovered this when it tried to look up the name specified on the command
line.
User Action:
Create an
/etc/fstab
file and include the appropriate entries.
nfs_mount: Permission denied for
yyy
Explanation: Your host name is not in the export list for the file system or directory you want to mount from the server.
User Action:
Get a list of your host's exported file systems and directories
by using the
showmount -e
command.
For example,
enter the following command if your server's host name is host2:
#
/usr/bin/showmount -e host2
If the file system or directory you want to mount remotely
is not on the list, or if your host or network group name is not on the user
list for the file system or directory, log in to the server and check the
/etc/exports
file for the correct file system entry.
If the file system or directory name is in the
/etc/exports
file, but not in the output from
showmount
,
the failure is in the
mountd
daemon.
The
mountd
daemon could not parse that line in the file, could not find the
file system or directory, or the file system or directory name was not a locally
mounted file system.
If the file system or directory name is in the
/etc/exports
file and Network Information Service (NIS) is running, check the
server's
ypbind
daemon; it might have stopped.
See
exports
(4)
for further information.
nfs_mount: cannot mount
xxx
on
yyy
:
Mount device busy
Explanation: The file system or directory you are trying to mount is already mounted.
nfs_mount: cannot mount
xxx
on
yyy
:
No such file or directory
Explanation: The local directory does not exist.
User Action:
Check the spelling;
list the files in both directories by using the
ls
command.
nfs_mount: cannot mount
xxx
on
file
:
Not a directory
Explanation: Either the remote or local path is not a directory.
User Action:
Check the spelling;
list both directories by using the
ls
command.
nfs_mount: cannot mount
xxx
on
yyy
:
Not owner
Explanation: You must mount the remote file system or directory as superuser (root) on your system.
nfs_mount: illegal file system name
xxx
;
use host:pathname
Explanation:
You did not
specify the name of the server when you issued the
mount
command.
User Action:
For example, to mount
the file system
/usr/src
from the server host2, enter the
following command:
#
mount host2:/usr/src /host2/usr/src
nfs_mount: invalid directory name
xxx
directory pathname must begin with '/'.
Explanation:
The mount
point on the local (client) system must be an absolute path starting at the
root directory ( /
).
nfs_mount: RPC: Authentication error;
why=Client credential too weak
Explanation:
The server
is allowing client superuser mounts only and you are not a superuser.
See
mountd
(8)
for further information.
nfs_mount: RPC: Authentication error;
why=Server rejected credential
Explanation: Possible reasons for this error message include the following:
The server is running with Internet address checking turned
on and it cannot resolve your Internet address.
If your system has multiple
network interfaces configured, the server must be able to resolve all IP addresses,
either using the local
/etc/hosts
file or the distributed
hosts
file.
The server is running with domain or subdomain checking turned on and your system is not in the same domain or subdomain as the server.
See
mountd
(8)
for further information.
nfs_mount:
xxx server not responding:
port mapper failure
rpc timed out Giving
up on
yyy
Explanation: The server you are trying to mount from is down, or its port mapper is inoperative.
User Action:
Log in remotely to the server. If you are able to log in, the network is working.
Execute the
rpcinfo
command from the server.
For example, for a server named host2, you would enter the following command:
#
/usr/sbin/rpcinfo -p host2
If the port mapper is running properly on the server, the
rpcinfo
command lists the registered program numbers.
If it does
not, restart the port mapper on the server.
You also need a port mapper running
on the client host; if it is not running there, start it.
After you restart the port mapper, stop the NFS daemons by entering the following command:
#
/sbin/init.d/nfs stop
If NIS is running, stop the
ypbind
daemon on the server.
Use the
kill
command
and specify the process ID (PID).
If you stopped the
ypbind
daemon, restart
it by entering the following command:
#
/usr/sbin/ypbind
Restart the NFS daemons on the server by entering the following command:
#
/sbin/init.d/nfs start
nfs_mount:
xxx
server not responding: rpc prog not registered
Explanation:
The
mount
command got through to the port mapper, but the NFS
mountd
daemon was not registered.
User Action:
Log in to the server.
Check that the
/usr/sbin/mountd
file exists
by using the
ls
command.
Run the
ps
command to see if the
mountd
daemon is running.
If it is not running, restart it by entering
the following command:
#
/usr/sbin/mountd
Can't get net id for host
Explanation:
There is no
entry in the
/etc/hosts
file for the NFS server specified
in the
mount
command line.
If NIS is running, there is
no entry in the
hosts
NIS map for the host name specified.
If BIND is running, there is no entry in the
hosts
database
for the host name specified.
D.2.2 automount Error Messages
The
following error messages are issued to the screen or console or sent to the
syslogd
daemon by the
automount
program:
bad entry in map
mapname
Explanation:
The map entry
in
mapname
is malformed and the
automount
program cannot interpret it.
User Action: Recheck the entry; you might need to include escape characters.
Can't mount
mountpoint
:
reasonExplanation:
The
automount
program cannot mount itself at
mountpoint.
The reason should be self-explanatory.
couldn't create directory:
reason
Explanation:
The
automount
program could not create a directory.
The reason should
be self-explanatory.
dir
mountpoint
must start with '/'
Explanation: The mountpoint must have a full pathname.
User Action: Check both the spelling and pathname of the mount point.
hierarchical mountpoint:
mountpoint
Explanation:
The
automount
program will not allow itself to be mounted within an
automounted directory.
User Action: Use another strategy to mount the directory.
host
hostname
not responding
Explanation:
The
automount
program attempted to mount from
hostname
but received no response or failed.
These errors could indicate
a server or network problem.
server not
responding
Explanation:
The
automount
program attempted to mount from
hostname
but received no response or failed.
These errors could indicate
a server or network problem.
hostname: exports:
rpc_errExplanation:
The
automount
program encountered an error while attempting to get the
list of exported file systems and directories that it is allowed to mount
from
hostname.
This error occurs when a user attempts to access a mount point that
has the
-hosts
map associated with it.
This error
indicates a server or network problem.
already mounted
on
mountpoint
Explanation:
The
automount
program is attempting to mount a file system on a mount
point that has already been mounted with that file system.
map
mapname
,
key
key
:
bad
Explanation:
The map entry
in
mapname
is malformed and the
automount
program cannot interpret it.
User Action: Recheck the entry; you might need to include escape characters.
mapname: Not found
Explanation:
The
automount
program cannot locate the map it requires.
This message
is returned only when you specify the
-v
option.
Explanation:
The
automount
program encountered an error when looking up a NIS map
entry.
Mount of
hostname:filesystem
on
mountpoint:
reason
Explanation:
The
automount
program attempted to mount from
hostname
but received no response or failed.
These errors could indicate
a server or network problem.
mountpoint: Not a directory
Explanation: The mountpoint exists but is not a directory.
User Action: Check both the spelling and pathname of the mount point.
pathname from
hostname:
absolute symbolic link
Explanation:
The
automount
program detected that
mountpoint
is an absolute symbolic link (begins with /).
The content of the link is
pathname.
Because this might have undesired consequences on
the client, the
automount
program will not mount on absolute
symbolic links.
no mount maps specified
Explanation:
The
automount
program cannot find any maps to serve, nor can it find
any NIS maps.
This message is returned only when you specify the
-v
option.
WARNING:
hostname:file
system
already mounted on mountpoint
Explanation:
The
automount
program is mounting itself on top of an existing mount
point.
This message is a warning only.
WARNING:
mountpoint
not empty!
Explanation:
The
mountpoint
directory is not empty.
This message is returned
only when you specify the
-v
option.
It is warning
you that the previous contents of
mountpoint
will
not be accessible while the mount is in effect.
The following error messages can occur when a file system
is exported from multiple servers as specified in a multiple-server map entry.
They indicate possible network problems that can occur when the
automount
daemon requests a response from the servers.
Cannot create socket for broadcast rpc:
rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.
Cannot receive reply to many_cast:
rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.
Cannot send broadcast packet:
rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.
Many_cast select problem:
rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.
NFS server (pid
n@mountpoint
)
not responding still trying
Explanation:
An NFS request
to the automount daemon with PID
n
serving mount
point has timed out.
The
automount
daemon might be overloaded
or not running.
User Action: If the condition persists, reboot the client. You can also do the following:
Exit all processes that are using automounted directories.
Kill the current
automount
process.
Restart the
automount
process from the
command line.
Remount
hostname:filesystem
on
mountpoint
server not responding
Explanation:
The
automount
program was attempting to remount
filesystem
because it discovered that a part of the automounted hierarchy
at the
mountpoint
was busy.
The remote file system's
server,
hostname, did not respond to the mount
request.
This error indicates a server problem.
trymany: servers not responding:
reason
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.
The following error messages might be displayed on the NFS client system console and in the error logger. They note an NFS file access failure.
NFS server
hostname
not responding, still trying
Explanation: File operations in a hard-mounted file system have suspended because communication between the client and the server has stopped.
NFS server
hostname
ok
Explanation: File operations have resumed.
NFS
file operation
failed for server
hostname
:
reasonExplanation: If the operation is in a soft-mounted file system and the server is inoperable, the reason for the failure is that the operation timed out.
NFS write error, server
hostname
,
remote file system full
Explanation: A write operation failed because the remote file system is full.
NFS write error
errno
,
server
hostname
,
fs(n,n
),
file
file
Explanation:
A write operation
was refused by the server.
The
fs
and
file
variables are parts of the file handle (fhandle).
See
errno
(2)
for a description of write errors.