Volatile File Handles in NFS Version 4

File handles are created on the server and contain information that uniquely identifies files and directories. In NFS Version 2 and NFS Version 3, the server returned persistent file handles. Thus, the client could guarantee that the server would generate a file handle that always referred to the same file. For example:

If a file was deleted and replaced with a file of the same name, the server would generate a new file handle for the new file. If the client used the old file handle, the server would return an error that the file handle was stale.
If a file was renamed, the file handle would remain the same.
If the server was rebooted, the file handles would remain the same.

Thus, when the server received a request from a client that included a file handle, the resolution was straightforward and the file handle always referred to the correct file.

The method of using persistent file handles for identifying files and directories for NFS operations was fine for most UNIX servers. However, the method could not be implemented on servers that relied on other methods of identification, such as a file's path name. To resolve this problem, the NFS Version 4 protocol permits a server to declare that its file handles are volatile. If the file handle does change, the client must find the new file handle.

Like NFS Versions 2 and NFS Version 3 servers, the Oracle Solaris NFS Version 4 server always provides persistent file handles. However, Oracle Solaris NFS Version 4 clients that access non Oracle Solaris NFS Version 4 servers must support volatile file handles if the server uses them. Specifically, when the server communicates to the client that the file handle is volatile, the client must cache the mapping between the path name and file handle. The client uses the volatile file handle until it expires. On expiration, the client does the following:

Flushes the cached information that refers to that file handle
Searches for that file's new file handle
Retries the operation

Note:

The server always communicates to the client which file handles are persistent and which file handles are volatile.

Volatile file handles might expire in any of these situations:

When you close a file
When the file handle's file system migrates
When a client renames a file
When the server reboots

If the client is unable to find the new file handle, an error message is logged in the syslog file. Further attempts to access this file fail with an I/O error.