Learn more about the NFS nofail option in fstab from our experts. Our NFS Support team is here to help you with your questions and concerns.

About NFS fstab nofail Option

Did you know that each time we mount a Network File System share on a Linux system, it is mentioned in the /etc/fstab file?

In fact, the fstab file contains details about the file systems and their corresponding options that have to be mounted at boot time.

However, in certain scenarios, the NFS server or network may be unavailable which will prevent the NFS share from being mounted during the boot process.

This leads to several problems for the system as well as the users. In other words, certain processes or applications depending on the NFS share will become unavailable leading to different issues.

This is why we have the “nofail” option. By adding this to the NFS mount entry in the /etc/fstab file, thee system, will proceed with the booting process even if the NFS share cannot be mounted.

NFS mount entry with nofail option

Let’s take a look at an NFS mount entry with nofail option in the /etc/fstab file:

nfsserver:/nfsshare /mnt/nfs nfs noauto,x-systemd.automount,nofail 0 0

• nfsserver:/nfsshare

  This indicates the NFS server as well as which share that is being mounted.
• /mnt/nfs

  This indicates the local mount point of the NFS share on the Linux system.
• nfs

  Since we are mounting an NFS share, we have to indicate this by adding the nfs option.
• noauto,x-systemd.automount,nofail

  The noauto option informs the system not to automatically mount the share during booting. Furthermore, the x-systemd.automount option tells systemd to automatically mount the share when it is accessed. The nofail option informs the system to continue booting even if the NFS share cannot be mounted currently.
• 0 0

  These options are dump and pass parameters and do not concern our NFS share mounts.

Our experts would like to point out that the nofail option pushes the booting process forward in case of NFS share unavailability. In other words, there is no guarantee the NFS share is available after the system boots successfully.

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Conclusion

In summary, our Support Techs introduced us to the NFS nofail option in fstab and how it works.