SFU: Network Path Not Found When You Try to Mount Unix NFS Volume (252386)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Services for UNIX Add-On Pack
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX 2.0
This article was previously published under Q252386

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to mount a Unix NFS volume on a computer running Windows NT 4.0 Server or Workstation and you are running the Microsoft Windows NT Services for Unix NFS Client, you may not be able to connect and you may receive the following error message:
The network path was not found.


NOTE: You may receive this error message if you attempt to map a drive to a Unix NFS host using the Map Network Drive graphical interface or the NET USE command from a command prompt.

CAUSE

This issue can occur when the default NFS access permissions are not in effect, and the Windows NT client host has not been given explicit permission to mount the NFS share on the computer running Unix.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, give the Windows NT host explicit permission to gain access to the share or allow all clients to gain access.

MORE INFORMATION

In most versions of Unix, the /etc/exports file (/etc/dfs/dfstab in Solaris Unix) controls the accessibility of local file systems to network clients. By default, Unix NFS shares are exported with Read/Write permissions for all hosts. However, if an NFS file system is shared with explicit permissions given to one or more hosts, the default permissions are superceded, and only specified hosts can gain access.

For example, if you export the file system /reports in /etc/exports as

/reports

then /reports is shared with the default permissions of Read/Write for all hosts.

However, if you export /reports as

/reports host1 host2

then /reports can only be mounted by host1 or host2. No other remote hosts can gain access to the share.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/8/2001
Keywords:kberrmsg kbnetwork kbprb KB252386
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