9.2. Starting and Stopping NFS

To run an NFS server, the portmap service must be running. To verify that portmap is active, type the following command as root:

/sbin/service portmap status

If the portmap service is running, then the nfs service can be started. To start an NFS server, as root type:

/sbin/service nfs start

To stop the server, as root type:

/sbin/service nfs stop

The restart option is a shorthand way of stopping and then starting NFS. This is the most efficient way to make configuration changes take effect after editing the configuration file for NFS.

To restart the server, as root type:

/sbin/service nfs restart

The condrestart (conditional restart) option only starts nfs if it is currently running. This option is useful for scripts, because it does not start the daemon if it is not running.

To conditionally restart the server, as root type:

/sbin/service nfs condrestart

To reload the NFS server configuration file without restarting the service, as root type:

/sbin/service nfs reload

By default, the nfs service does not start automatically at boot time. To configure the NFS to start up at boot time, use an initscript utility, such as /sbin/chkconfig, /sbin/ntsysv, or the Services Configuration Tool program. Refer to the chapter titled Controlling Access to Services in Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide for more information regarding these tools.