--- title: "How To Configure an NFS Server Windows Installation" description: "Sharing files in a network of diverse computer operating systems can be convenient after an NFS Server Windows installation. Learn how in this step-by-step tutorial." canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/nfs-server-windows/" --- # How To Configure an NFS Server Windows Installation > Sharing files in a network of diverse computer operating systems can be convenient after an NFS Server Windows installation. Learn how in this step-by-step tutorial. Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/nfs-server-windows/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![How To Configure an NFS Server Windows Installation](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/How-To-Configure-an-NFS-Server-Windows-Installation.jpg) # How To Configure an NFS Server Windows Installation [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c14b031fe4a12b0e3f4d1e112e37261df83921ddc370cdafbad2a614e36f0cf4?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Chaitanya](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/chaitanya-g/)9 November 20217 min. read Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) Tags:[NFS](/tag/nfs/)[windows server](/tag/windows-server/) Table of Contents * [Prerequisites](#prerequisites) * [Performing NFS Server Windows Installation](#performing-nfs-server-windows-installation) * [Configuring an NFS Server Windows Share](#configuring-an-nfs-server-windows-share) * [Mounting the NFS Share on Windows Using the NET USE Command](#mounting-the-nfs-share-on-windows-using-the-net-use-command) * [Mounting the NFS Share Using the Client for NFS Windows Feature](#mounting-the-nfs-share-using-the-client-for-nfs-windows-feature) * [Connecting to an NFS Share from Linux](#connecting-to-an-nfs-share-from-linux) * [Conclusion](#conclusion) Do you want to share files between computers with various operating systems like Windows and Linux? One way to share and access files between Windows and non-Windows machines is by deploying a [Network File System (NFS)](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/nfs/nfs-overview) server. In this tutorial, you will learn step-by-step how to install and configure NFS Windows Server and access NFS shares from Windows or Linux. ## Prerequisites This tutorial will be a hands-on demonstration. If you’d like to follow along, be sure you have the following: * [An Active Directory (AD) domain](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/deploy/install-active-directory-domain-services--level-100-). The examples in this tutorial will be working with a domain called _HomeLab.Local._ Related:[Domain Controllers vs Active Directory](https://adamtheautomator.com/domain-controller-vs-active-directory/) * A server running on Windows Server 2012 or later operating systems where you’ll configure the NFS server role. This tutorial uses a domain-joined Windows Server 2019, and the server hostname is _JumpBox_. * A domain-joined client PC that you’ll use to access the NFS shares. This tutorial will cover the procedures using Windows 10 version 2004 and Ubuntu 20.04 computers. ## Performing NFS Server Windows Installation After you’ve squared away the requirements, you should now have a Windows Server with no server roles. But you can quickly remedy that by following the steps below to install the NFS Windows Server. 1\. Before anything, login to the server where you’ll set up NFS. 2\. Next, open the **Server Manager** by clicking on **Start —> Server Manager**. ![Opening the Server Manager window](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-129.png) Opening the Server Manager window 3\. On the **Server Manager** window, click **Add roles and features** under the **Dashboard** tab. ![Clicking Add roles and features](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-130.png) Clicking Add roles and features 4\. On the **Before you begin** page, click **Next.** ![Clicking Next on the Add Roles and Features Wizard](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-131.png) Clicking Next on the Add Roles and Features Wizard 5\. On the **Installation Type** step, click **Role-based or feature-based installation,** and click **Next**. ![Selecting the role-based installation option](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-132.png) Selecting the role-based installation option 6\. On the **Select destination server** page, click the **Select a server from the server pool** option. Under the **Server Pool** list, click the server name for the NFS deployment and click **Next**. ![Selecting the server from the server pool](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-133.png) Selecting the server from the server pool 7\. On the **Select server roles** page, scroll down and expand the **File and storage services** node, and below that, expand the **File and iSCSI Services**, too. Now, check the box for **Server for NFS**. On the pop-up window, the Wizard asks you to confirm installing the required features along with the NFS server role. To confirm, click **Add features** and click **Next**. ![Selecting the server role](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-134.png) Selecting the server role 8\. Since you’ve already confirmed adding the required features in the previous step, don’t select anything on the **Select features** page and click **Next**. ![Skipping the addition features installation selection](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-135.png) Skipping the addition features installation selection 9\. Lastly, on the **Confirm installation selections** page, click **Install** to install the NFS server role. ![Confirmation page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-136.png) Confirmation page 10\. After the installation is complete, click **Close** to close the Wizard. ![Installation complete page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-137.png) Installation complete page > _Note: You can have more than one NFS Servers in your network._ ## Configuring an NFS Server Windows Share You’ve just completed a new NFS Server Windows installation. Good job! Now that the NFS server runs in the background, you still have steps to make your server useful. An NFS server’s purpose is to share files, so let’s go ahead and configure your first NFS share. 1\. On the left side of the **Server Manager**, expand the **File and storage services** option and click on **Shares**. ![Displaying Shares option in Server Manager](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-138.png) Displaying Shares option in Server Manager 2\. Next, near the top-right of the window, click on the **Tasks** drop-down —> **New Share.** ![Creating New Share](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-139.png) Creating New Share 3\. On the **Select Profile** step, there are two options for NFS Share: * **NFS Share – Quick** – Creates an NFS share with basic settings and is suitable for sharing files with Unix-based computers. You can configure more settings later on. * **NFS Share – Advanced** – This NFS share profile requires that the server also has the _File Server Resource Manager_ role. This option allows setting folder owners, data classification, access policies, and quotas. For this tutorial, select **NFS Share – Quick** and click **Next**. ![Displaying NFS Share- Quick option](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-140.png) Displaying NFS Share- Quick option 4\. Select the **Type a custom path** option on the Share Location step to share a custom location instead of sharing an entire volume. Next, type the full path of the folder you want to share. In this example, the custom location to share is _C:\\Data_. > _Note: The custom location path you enter must already exist. If the location does not exist, the Wizard will ask if to automatically create the local path, as you can see below._ ![New share warning ](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-141.png) New share warning Finally, click **Next**. ![Specifying the custom path to share](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-142.png) Specifying the custom path to share 5\. On the **Share Name** page, the **Share name** by default is the share location’s folder name. For this step, accept the default share name and click **Next**. > _You may change the share name to anything you deem best represents the NFS share. The Wizard automatically generates the **Remote path to share** value._ ![Choosing the share name](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-143.png) Choosing the share name 6\. On the **Authentication** step, select which authentication methods you want to assign the NFS share. In this tutorial, select all the [Kerberos](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/storage-at-microsoft/using-kerberos-security-with-server-for-nfs/ba-p/424122) options to allow clients to use the Kerberos authentication methods that the server supports. Next, since this tutorial includes Linux clients, check the **No server authentication (AUTH\_SYS)** box —> **Enable unmapped user access** —> **Allow unmapped user access by UID/GID**. Enabling this option allows clients without Kerberos capabilities to access the NFS share. ![Selecting authentication methods](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-144.png) Selecting authentication methods 7\. On the Share Permissions page, configure the permissions to the location that you are sharing. To begin, click **Add**. Next, choose which NFS clients can access the share. ![Specifying NFS share permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-145.png) Specifying NFS share permissions 8\. On the **Add Permission** window, select **All Machines** to apply the permission to any NFS client that wants to access the share. Next, on the Share permissions drop-down, click **Read / Write** to allow read and write access. Finally, click **Add.** ![Granting permissions on the hosts and setting up share permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-146.png) Granting permissions on the hosts and setting up share permissions 9\. Back on the **Share Permissions** page, click **Next**. ![Displaying selected share permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-147.png) Displaying selected share permissions 10\. On the Permission page, click **Next** to accept the default / existing entries. > _In future deployments, to restrict access to specific users or groups and what permissions they have, click **Customize** to add the specific users or groups._ ![List of access control permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-148.png) List of access control permissions 11\. On the **Confirmation** step, click **Create**. ![Confirmation page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-149.png) Confirmation page 12\. After the Wizard has created the NFS share, click **Close** on the **Results** page to close the Wizard. ![Share creation status page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-150.png) Share creation status page > _Note: You can create multiple NFS shares on one NFS server by following the same process._ ## Mounting the NFS Share on Windows Using the `NET USE` Command Without further configuration or installation, you can mount an NFS share to a location on your Windows computer by running the built-in [`net use`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/gg651155\(v=ws.11\)) command. To do so, proceed as follows. Related:[How to Connect to Network Drives on the Command Line with Net Use](https://adamtheautomator.com/net-use/) On your Windows client, open the command prompt and run the below command. This command will mount the NFS share to your computer and map it to the drive _K_. > _Note: Do not run the net use command from an elevated command prompt. If you do, the drive letter will not appear in the File Explorer.s_ > _Note that specifying the NFS server’s IP address instead of the name is also acceptable._ ```bash net use K: \\Jumpbox\Data /user:homelab\user01 ``` ![Mounting NFS share using the net use command](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-151.png) Mounting NFS share using the net use command You can now access the K: drive from the Windows Explorer. ## Mounting the NFS Share Using the Client for NFS Windows Feature Before you can mount an NFS share to your client computer, first, you need to install an optional Windows feature called _Client for NFS._ Only after installing this feature will the additional command to mount an NFS share will become available. 1\. To install the _Client for NFS_ feature, [open PowerShell as admin](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/) and run the [`Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/dism/enable-windowsoptionalfeature?view=windowsserver2019-ps#parameters) command below. The `-All` parameter enables all features that the Client for NFS features requires. Related:[How to Run PowerShell as Administrator](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/) ```powershell Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName ClientForNFS-Infrastructure -Online -All ``` ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-152.png) Enabling the Client for NFS feature Now that you’ve installed the required NFS for Client feature, the [`mount.exe`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mount) command is now available, which you’ll use to mount the NFS share on your computer. 2\. Open a command prompt window and run the command below. This command mounts the NFS share to your computer under the drive letter _H_. ```powershell mount.exe -u:homelab\user01 -p: jumpbox:/data H: ``` ![Mounting NFS share from Windows using the mount.exe command](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-153.png) Mounting NFS share from Windows using the mount.exe command 3\. Now, open the File Explorer to view and access the files inside the NFS share. ![ Displaying NFS share from explorer](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-154.png) Displaying NFS share from explorer ## Connecting to an NFS Share from Linux > _This section contains instructions running on an Ubuntu PC. If you are using a different Linux distro, some of the commands might be different. In which case, refer to your distro’s documentation._ So far, you’ve seen NFS in action by connecting to an NFS share from Windows. This time, take NFS for another spin using an Ubuntu PC. Proceed with the following instructions. 1\. Open a terminal and run the below command to update the package lists on your PC. The `sudo` command will ask for your password. Type in your password and press Enter. ```bash sudo apt update -y ``` ![Updating package lists on Ubuntu](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-155.png) Updating package lists on Ubuntu 2\. Next, run the below command to install the required packages to enable your PC as an NFS client. Wait for the installation to complete. ```bash sudo apt install nfs-common -y ``` ![Installing the nfs-common package on Ubuntu](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-156.png) Installing the nfs-common package on Ubuntu 3\. Next, create a folder where you’ll mount the NFS share. Run the below commands to do so. ```bash # Create a folder under the current working directory mkdir NfsMount # Mount the NFS Share # * "jumpbox:/Data" is the NFS share path # * "NfsMount/" is the local folder you created where to mount the NFS share sudo mount -t nfs jumpbox:/Data NfsMount/ ``` If there are no errors, like the screenshot you see below, then you’ve successfully mounted the NFS share to your local directory. ![Mount the NFS share](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-157.png) Mount the NFS share 4\. Now, test your access to the NFS share by listing its contents. ```java ls NfsMount/ ``` ![Listing the NFS share contents](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-158.png) Listing the NFS share contents Alternatively, run the command below instead if you want to open the NFS share location using your default file browser. ```javascript xdg-open NfsMount/ ``` ![Opening the NFS share in the default file browser ](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/image-159.png) Opening the NFS share in the default file browser 5\. Optionally, to allow non-admin users access to the NFS share, run the command below in the terminal. This command enables the read, write, and execute permissions to the NfsMount folder recursively for all users. ```bash sudo chmod -R a+rwx NfsMount/ ``` ## Conclusion Deploying an NFS Server on Windows to share files between computers with different operating systems is a quick and convenient solution. And this tutorial gave you the fundamental knowledge on how to install, configure, and access NFS server Windows shares. What you learned here are only the basics to get you started with NFS shares. Perhaps if you want to go further, try to [configure unmapped U](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-r2-and-2008/hh509017\(v=ws.10\))[NIX user access](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-r2-and-2008/hh509017\(v=ws.10\)) or configure [NFS account mapping using AD DS](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-r2-and-2008/hh509016\(v=ws.10\)). Thanks for reading! 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