HOW TO: Set Up Gateway for NFS to Provide UNIX File Services to Windows Clients

One obstacle to migrating from UNIX to Windows is file sharing. If you have a UNIX computer with files shared out via NFS then you can make that share available to all Windows computers in the network without installing additional software on them. One single Windows Server can act as the gateway between the UNIX computer and the Windows clients by installing Gateway for NFS. By installing Gateway for NFS on a Windows server, you can provide access to your NFS resources without having to load any additional software on other Windows clients. Gateway for NFS is only supported on Windows servers and cannot be installed on Windows NT Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, or Windows XP.

Install Gateway for NFS

Windows Services for UNIX version 3.0 uses Microsoft Installer for installation. As a result, you can install individual modules of the product from the command line. If previous components of Windows Services for UNIX have been installed, you must include these components in the addlocal parameter of the installation command line, separated by a comma (,). If you do not do so, these products are removed during the installation of Gateway for NFS.

NOTE: You cannot install Client for NFS and Gateway for NFS on the same computer; however, Gateway for NFS enables the computer to act as an NFS client while it provides access to NFS resources for downstream Windows-based clients. For additional information about installing Client for NFS, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To install Gateway for NFS from the command line:

1. Log on to the Windows-based server by using an administrative level account.
2. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
3. Insert the Windows Services for UNIX version 3.0 CD in the CD drive (this example uses drive D).
4. From the command prompt, run the following command to install Gateway for NFS:
   
       msiexec /I D:\sfusetup.msi /qb addlocal="NFSGateway" [targetdir="install path"]
   Note: The addlocal parameter to msiexec show above is case and space sensitive. Installation will fail if the exact case above is not followed.
5. Default install path is "\SFU".
   
   Note: Services for UNIX should be installed in a directory without spaces in the path to prevent problems with some components of SFU. Microsoft recommends that you install to the default directory.
6. To include the product key in the command line, add PidKey=key, where key is the 25 character product key without the dashes.
   
   

Note: If you are installing from a telnet prompt (where the graphical user interface [GUI] is not available) or by using a script, use the following command line to perform an installation which does not require user interaction:

    msiexec /I D:\sfusetup.msi /q addlocal="NFSGateway" pidkey="key" [targetdir="install path"]

Note:Install Windows Services for UNIX in a folder that does not have any spaces in the folder path to prevent problems with some components of Windows Services for UNIX. The default installation point is \SFU.

Note:The addlocal parameter to the msiexec command that is described earlier is case-sensitive and space-sensitive. The installation is not successful if you do not use the command exactly as it is written in this article. Note:Microsoft recommends that you install at least one User Name Mapping service on your network to map UNIX and Windows user names to each other. Please view our KB article about User Name Mapping service in our REFERENCES section.

Troubleshooting

The following troubleshooting tips may help resolve problems with a Gateway for NFS installation.

• All user requests are transmitted as Anonymous.
  Cause: Authentication is not configured properly.
  Solution: Ensure that mappings are set up correctly in User Name Mapping and that Gateway for NFS is configured to use the correct User Name Mapping server.
  
  
• An attempt to communicate with the Gateway for NFS service produced an error.
  Cause: The Gateway for NFS service is not started.
  Solution: In Services for UNIX Administration, right-click Gateway for NFS, and then click Start.
  
  
• System 1722 has occurred. The remote procedure call (RPC) server is unavailable.
  Cause: The Gateway for NFS Service is not started.
  Solution: In Services for UNIX Administration, right-click Gateway for NFS, and then click Start.
  
  
• An attempt to mount a shared directory produced network error 53 or 67.
  Cause: The directory is not shared, or the server is unable to resolve the client name.
  Solution: Use the showmount -e server command to display the names of shared directories on the network file system (NFS) server. Ensure that the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer running Gateway for NFS is specified in either NFS server file /etc/hosts, or in the DNS database, as appropriate.
  
  
• I received an RPC: Timed out, or RPC: Port mapper failure-RPC: Timed out message.
  Cause: The port mapper or network file system (NFS) server daemons are not running on the NFS server. Solution: Ensure that the daemons are started.
  
  
• I cannot mount a shared root (/) directory on the network file system (NFS) server.
  Cause: Gateway for NFS cannot mount the root directory using the standard path syntax.
  Solution: Mount the root directory using this command: net use * \\server\!
  The share name must be an exclamation mark (!).
  
  
• I received an error message stating that a service failed to start.
  Cause: Nfsrdr service failed to start, or the Service Manager erroneously reported that the service failed to start. Event Viewer might contain an event log with the following message:
  

  The NfsRdr service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the file specified.
  						

  
  Solution: Check to determine whether the Gateway for NFS service has started. If it has started, ignore this message. If it has not started, start the Gateway for NFS service.
  
  
• After the server restarts, an error message indicates that the Server service was not started and Gateway for NFS shares are not reconnected.
  Cause: Gateway for NFS started before the Server service.
  Solution: Check to ensure that both Gateway for NFS and Server services have started, then reconnect the Gateway for NFS shares.
  
  
• Authenticated users cannot access NFS resources, or access them as Anonymous.
  Cause: User Name Mapping is not properly configured to work with this computer.
  Solution: Ensure that the .maphosts file on the computer running User Name Mapping specifies the names or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of computers that can map user accounts via User Name Mapping. If users cannot access NFS resources intermittently and configuring the .maphosts file does not solve the problem, too many client computers might be trying to access User Name Mapping simultaneously.

For additional information about performing maintenance tasks after a UNIX-to-Windows Migration, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
For additional information about how to install and configure User Name Mapping service, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: