Disable NFS and automount Services

This feature is new in the Software Express pilot program. This feature is included in the Solaris 10 3/05 release.

The following NFS daemons are typically started by default at boot time by the rc scripts: nfsd, mountd, statd, lockd, and the automount daemon, automountd. Now, if a machine does not require NFS and automount services, the scripts do not start the NFS daemons and the automount daemon.

The following describes the new behavior:

• The automount utility, which is called by /etc/init.d/autofs, now starts automountd at boot time only if the automount maps have a valid entry.

• /etc/init.d/nfs.server starts mountd, nfsd, statd, and lockd at boot time only if the machine has any NFS exports.

• /etc/init.d/nfs.client starts statd and lockd only if /etc/vfstab includes NFS file systems.

NFS and automount services might not be started at boot time. The following commands can start these services when required by a machine:

• The automount utility can start the automountd daemon.

• The mount command with the -F nfs option can start the lockd and statd daemons. The automountd daemon also can start lockd and statd.

• The share command with the -F nfs option can start the nfsd, mountd, lockd, and statd daemons.

This mechanism for disabling NFS and automount services provides the following benefits:

• Extra security that comes from not running unnecessary daemons on a machine.

• A simplified process for exporting file systems. The nfsd and mountd daemons, and, if necessary, lockd and statd, are started by the share command with the -nfs option. So, you no longer have to edit the /etc/dfs/dfstab file and then invoke the /etc/init.d/nfs.server program. This new behavior permits an NFS export to be configured with a single command, without editing any configuration files. However, if the system reboots, such exports are not resumed automatically, unless the exports are included in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file.

For more information, refer to the man pages for mountd(1M), lockd(1M), statd(1M), and nfsd(1M).

For further information, see also the System Administration Guide: Network Services.