E NFS Error Messages

You might see the following types of NFS error messages:

E.1 Server Error Messages

The following error messages are issued to the screen or console or sent to syslogd.

authget: unknown authflavor n authflavor: Explanation: Each NFS request has an authentication type. This prints if the type is not AUTH_UNIX.
User Action: Have the client application use the AUTH_UNIX authentication type.

fh3tovp: bad length: n: Explanation: A client sent a bad file handle to the server.

NFS request from unprivileged port, source IP address = n: Explanation: The server, performing NFS server port monitoring, received an NFS request from a nonprivileged port (greater than or equal to 1024) on a client. This might indicate a security problem.

NFS server: fs(n,n) not mounted; client address = n.n.n.n: Explanation: The client requested a file on a file system that is not mounted or does not exist on the server. This can occur if a file system is unmounted while clients are using it or if the client passed an invalid file handle.
User Action: Make sure that the appropriate file system is mounted on the NFS server. If the file system is mounted on the same device, have the client system retry the operation. If the file system is mounted on a different device, have the client system unmount and remount the remote file system.

NFS server: stale file handle fs(n,n) file file gen n, client address = n.n.n.n errno n: Explanation: The client accessed a file that no longer exists. The file was deleted either by the server or by another client.

NFS server: unexported fs(n,n) file file, client address = n.n.n.n: Explanation: A client that previously had access to a file system can no longer access the file system, either because of changes in the /etc/exports file or in net group mapping.
User Action: Have the client system unmount the file system.

rfs_dispatch botch: Explanation: The duplicate request cache routine returned an illegal value.

rfs_dispatch: bad rfs reply n ret: Explanation: A server routine did not return a value or returned an incorrect value.

rfs_dispatch: dispatch error, no reply rfs_dispatch: sendreply failed

Explanation: Possible reasons for this message include the following:

The server is out of memory and cannot process or reply to a request.
The server cannot find a route to the source.
Some other network-related problem.

too many nfsds: Explanation: More nfsd daemons registered with NFS than were started.

E.2 Client Error Messages

This appendix provides an explanation and suggested user actions for the following classes of client error messages:

Remote mount error messages
automount error messages
Console error messages

Within each section, error messages are listed alphabetically.

E.2.1    Remote Mount Error Messages

The following error messages are displayed if you are mounting directories or file systems from remote systems:
Don't know how to mount xxx
Explanation: There is no entry in the /etc/fstab file for the argument you specified on the mount command line.
User Action: Edit the /etc/fstab file and verify that the mount point or remote file system exists.

/etc/fstab: No such file or directory
Explanation: The /etc/fstab file does not exist. The mount command discovered this when it tried to look up the name specified on the command line.
User Action: Create an /etc/fstab file and include the appropriate entries.

nfs_mount: Permission denied for yyy
Explanation: Your host name is not in the export list for the file system or directory you want to mount from the server.
User Action:

Get a list of your host's exported file systems and directories, using the showmount -e command. For example, enter the following command if your server's host name is host2:
# /usr/bin/showmount -e host2

If the file system or directory you want to mount remotely is not in the list, or if your host or network group name is not in the user list for the file system or directory, log in to the server and check the /etc/exports file for the correct file system entry.
If the file system or directory name appears in the /etc/exports file, but not in the output from showmount, the failure is in the mountd daemon. The mountd daemon could not parse that line in the file, could not find the file system or directory, or the file system or directory name was not a locally mounted file system.
If the file system or directory name appears in the /etc/exports file and Network Information Service (NIS) is running, check the server's ypbind daemon; it might be dead or hung.
See exports(4) for further information.

nfs_mount: cannot mount xxx on yyy: Mount device busy
Explanation: The file system or directory you are trying to mount is already mounted.

nfs_mount: cannot mount xxx on yyy: No such file or directory
Explanation: The local directory does not exist.
User Action: Check the spelling; list the files in both directories by using the ls command.

nfs_mount: cannot mount xxx on file: Not a directory
Explanation: Either the remote or local path is not a directory.
User Action: Check the spelling; list both directories by using the ls command.

nfs_mount: cannot mount xxx on yyy: Not owner
Explanation: You must mount the remote file system or directory as superuser (root) on your system.

nfs_mount: illegal file system name xxx; use host:pathname
Explanation: You did not specify the name of the server when you issued the mount command.
User Action: For example, to mount the file system /usr/src from the server host2, enter the following command:
# mount host2:/usr/src /host2/usr/src

nfs_mount: invalid directory name xxx
directory pathname must begin with '/'.
Explanation: The mount point on the local (client) system must be an absolute path starting at the root directory (/).

nfs_mount: RPC: Authentication error;
why=Client credential too weak
Explanation: The server is allowing client superuser mounts only and you are not a superuser. See mountd(8) for further information.

nfs_mount: RPC: Authentication error;
why=Server rejected credential
Explanation: Possible reasons for this error message include the following:

The server is running with Internet address checking turned on and it cannot resolve your Internet address. If your system has multiple network interfaces configured, the server must be able to resolve all IP addresses, either using the local /etc/hosts file or the distributed hosts file.
The server is running with domain or subdomain checking turned on and your system is not in the same domain or subdomain as the server.

See mountd(8) for further information.

rpc timed out Giving up on yyy
Explanation: The server you are trying to mount from is down, or its port mapper is inoperative.
User Action:

Log in remotely to the server. If you are able to log in, the network is working.
Execute the rpcinfo command from the server. For example, for a server named host2, you would enter the following command:
# /usr/sbin/rpcinfo -p host2

If the port mapper is running properly on the server, rpcinfo lists the registered program numbers. If it does not, restart the port mapper on the server. You also need a port mapper running on the client host; if it is not running there, start it.
After you restart the port mapper, stop the NFS daemons by entering the following command:
# /sbin/init.d/nfs stop

If NIS is running, kill the ypbind daemon on the server. Use the kill command and specify the process ID (PID).
If you killed the ypbind daemon, restart it by entering the following command:
# /usr/sbin/ypbind

Restart the NFS daemons on the server by entering the following command:
# /sbin/init.d/nfs start

nfs_mount: xxxserver not responding: rpc prog not registered
Explanation: The mount command got through to the port mapper, but the NFS mountd daemon was not registered.
User Action:

Log in to the server.
Check that the /usr/sbin/mountd file exists, using the ls command.
Run the ps command to see if the mountd daemon is running. If it is not running, restart it by entering the following command:
# /usr/sbin/mountd

Can't get net id for host
Explanation: There is no entry in the /etc/hosts file for the NFS server specified in the mount command line. If NIS is running, there is no entry in the hosts NIS map for the host name specified. If BIND is running, there is no entry in the hosts database for the host name specified.

E.2.2    automount Error Messages

The following error messages are issued to the screen or console or sent to syslogd by the automount program:
bad entry in map mapname
Explanation: The map entry in mapname is malformed and the automount program cannot interpret it.
User Action: Recheck the entry; you might need to include escape characters.

Can't mount mountpoint: reason
Explanation: The automount program cannot mount itself at mountpoint. The reason should be self-explanatory.

couldn't create directory: reason
Explanation: The automount program could not create a directory. The reason should be self-explanatory.

dir mountpoint must start with '/'
Explanation: The mountpoint must have a full pathname.
User Action: Check both the spelling and pathname of the mount point.

hierarchical mountpoint: mountpoint
Explanation: The automount program will not allow itself to be mounted within an automounted directory.
User Action: Use another strategy to mount the directory.

host hostname not responding
Explanation: The automount program attempted to mount from hostname but received no response or failed. These errors could indicate a server or network problem.

hostname:filesystem server not responding
Explanation: The automount program attempted to mount from hostname but received no response or failed. These errors could indicate a server or network problem.

hostname: exports: rpc_err
Explanation: The automount program encountered an error while attempting to get the list of exported file systems and directories that it is allowed to mount from hostname.
This error occurs when a user attempts to access a mount point that has the -hosts map associated with it. This error indicates a server or network problem.

hostname:filesystem already mounted on mountpoint
Explanation: The automount program is attempting to mount a file system on a mount point that has already been mounted with that file system.

map mapname, key key: bad
Explanation: The map entry in mapname is malformed and the automount program cannot interpret it.
User Action: Recheck the entry; you might need to include escape characters.

mapname: Not found
Explanation: The automount program cannot locate the map it requires. This message is returned only when you specify the -v option.

mapname: yp_err
Explanation: The automount program encountered an error when looking up a NIS map entry.

Mount of hostname:filesystem on mountpoint: reason
Explanation: The automount program attempted to mount from hostname but received no response or failed. These errors could indicate a server or network problem.

mountpoint: Not a directory
Explanation: The mountpoint exists but is not a directory.
User Action: Check both the spelling and pathname of the mount point.

mountpoint- pathname from hostname: absolute symbolic link
Explanation: The automount program detected that mountpoint is an absolute symbolic link (begins with /). The content of the link is pathname. Because this might have undesired consequences on the client, the automount program will not mount on absolute symbolic links.

no mount maps specified
Explanation: The automount program cannot find any maps to serve, nor can it find any NIS maps. This message is returned only when you specify the -v option.

WARNING: hostname:file system already mounted on mountpoint
Explanation: The automount program is mounting itself on top of an existing mount point. This message is a warning only.

WARNING: mountpoint not empty!
Explanation: The mountpoint directory is not empty. This message is returned only when you specify the -v option. It is warning you that the previous contents of mountpoint will not be accessible while the mount is in effect.

The following error messages can occur when a file system is exported from multiple servers as specified in a multiple-server map entry. They indicate possible network problems that can occur when the automount daemon requests a response from the servers.
Cannot create socket for broadcast rpc: rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.

Cannot receive reply to many_cast: rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.

Cannot send broadcast packet: rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.

Many_cast select problem: rpc_err
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.

NFS server (pid n@mountpoint) not responding still trying
Explanation: An NFS request to the automount daemon with PID n serving mount point has timed out. The automount daemon might be overloaded or not running.
User Action: If the condition persists, reboot the client. You can also do the following:

Exit all processes that are using automounted directories.
Kill the current automount process.
Restart the automount process from the command line.

Remount hostname:filesystem on mountpoint server not responding
Explanation: The automount program was attempting to remount filesystem because it discovered that a part of the automounted hierarchy at the mountpoint was busy. The remote file system's server, hostname, did not respond to the mount request. This error indicates a server problem.

trymany: servers not responding: reason
Explanation: No server in a multiple-server map entry is responding. This indicates that the replicated file system could not be reached on any of the specified servers.

E.2.3    Console Error Messages

The following error messages might be displayed on the NFS client system console and in the error logger. They note an NFS file access failure.
NFS server hostname not responding, still trying
Explanation: File operations in a hard-mounted file system have suspended because communication between the client and the server has stopped.

NFS server hostname ok
Explanation: File operations have resumed.

NFS file operation failed for server hostname: reason
Explanation: If the operation is in a soft-mounted file system and the server is inoperable, the reason for the failure is that the operation timed out.

NFS write error, server hostname, remote file system full
Explanation: A write operation failed because the remote file system is full.

NFS write error errno, server hostname, fs(n,n), file file
Explanation: A write operation was refused by the server. The fs and file variables are parts of the file handle (fhandle). See errno(2) for a description of write errors.