Configuring KnoppMyth for using NFS

NFS allows you to access your MythTV box from other Linux computers on your network.

NFS is already configured to share the /myth directory, but is not set to start on boot. Therefore, all you actually need to do to begin using the NFS server is to start it up. Open an Xterm window, su to root, and start the daemon:

su
/etc/init.d/nfs-common start
/etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server start

However, if you want to avoid doing this each time you restart your MythTV box, do the following to set NFS server to start up automatically (as su):

update-rc.d nfs-common defaults
update-rc.d nfs-kernel-server defaults

If, for any reason you want to stop having it start up automatically:

update-rc.d -f nfs-kernel-server remove
update-rc.d -f nfs-common remove

Connecting to MythTV box from Linux

</code> To connect to this machine from Linux, you can use the command line (as su). You will need to start portmap on the Linux machine, and create a folder to mount the NFS drive to. I use /mnt/myth. These are the steps you would take on the remote Linux machine:

su
mkdir /mnt/myth
portmap
mount mythtvboxIP:/myth /mnt/myth

MythTV's files will now be availble in /mnt/myth

If you have trouble getting the mount command to work. Do some testing:

rpcinfo -p mythtvboxIP

Should return something like:

  program vers proto   port
   100000    2   tcp    111  portmapper
   100000    2   udp    111  portmapper
   100024    1   udp   1013  status
   100024    1   tcp   1016  status
   100003    2   udp   2049  nfs
   100003    3   udp   2049  nfs
   100003    4   udp   2049  nfs
   100003    2   tcp   2049  nfs
   100003    3   tcp   2049  nfs
   100003    4   tcp   2049  nfs
   100021    1   udp  32886  nlockmgr
   100021    3   udp  32886  nlockmgr
   100021    4   udp  32886  nlockmgr
   100021    1   tcp  56261  nlockmgr
   100021    3   tcp  56261  nlockmgr
   100021    4   tcp  56261  nlockmgr
   100005    1   udp    625  mountd
   100005    1   tcp    628  mountd
   100005    2   udp    625  mountd
   100005    2   tcp    628  mountd
   100005    3   udp    625  mountd
   100005    3   tcp    628  mountd

If there are no nfs or mountd line returned, you should revisit "Configuring KnoppMyth for using NFS" above. You cat also watch the result of your mount attempts from the mythtv box byt doing:

tail -f /var/log/messages

If you see entries like:

May 5 12:00:00 shemp kernel: nfsd: request from insecure port
(192.168.1.100:50646)!

You need to add the option "insecure" to your /etc/exports file. Similar to this:

# /etc/exports: the access control list for filesystems which may be exported
#               to NFS clients.  See exports(5).

/myth   *(rw,insecure,all_squash,anonuid=105,anongid=105)
#  A^  B^ C^       D^         E^          F^          G^
# A. My share point is /myth
# B. I want to allow all hosts access to this share
# C. Allow read & write access
# D. Permit connections from insecure ports (My OS X machine needed this)
# E. Make all connections use the same user and group priviledges
# F. The user id to use is 105 (which is user:mythtv for me)
# G. The group id to use is 105 (which is group:mythtv for me)

Connecting to a Linux machine from your MythTV box

To connect to an NFS shared directory on your local network, you can use the command line (as su). I create a folder on my MythTv box called /mnt/nfs to mount the remote share to.

su
mkdir /mnt/nfs
mount nfsremoteshareIP:/nameofshare /mnt/nfs

Connecting to your MythTV box from OS X

Follow the directions above for configuring your MythTV box. Then in the Finder menu at the top of the screen choose Go > Connect to Server. For the server address type in:

nfs://MythTVboxIP/myth

If you would like to save the server in your favorites list click the + icon next to it. Then click Connect and the Myth share should show up in Finder and on your desktop.

Hints

o KnoppMyth has set up the /myth/ directory to have read/write access for the mythtv user. If you would like to change these settings, or would like to share other directories, you will need to edit the /etc/exports file (as su). An example of an /etc/exports is below:

/myth                       *(rw) #exports to any host with read write
/root             192.168.1.5(ro) #exports to 192.168.1.5 with read only
/myth/backup   192.168.1.0/24(ro) #exports to hosts 192.168.1.1-254 with read only

o If you make changes to /etc/exports, restart the NFS server with:

/etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server restart

o If you would like to always mount a NFS shared directory on startup of your MythTV box, you will need to add a line to /etc/fstab as follows:

su
nano /etc/fstab

(this assumes you have nano for your text editor; substitute your editor of choice here)

Add as the final line:

nfsremoteshareIP:/nameofshare /mnt/nfs nfs defaults,auto,noatime 0 0

Then save and exit your text editor.

o For a more in depth setup options check out:
http://nfs.sourceforge.net/nfs-howto/

Credits

This howto is adapted from the one found at:
http://knoppmythwiki.homelinux.org/index.php?page=UsingSambaHowTo