Nfs mount between two MBWorld White Light NAS

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1

I have 2 MyBookWorld White Light boxes and I want to do a large data transfer between them. I can mount the Public shares of both devices via NFS from Linux and Mac clients but I am trying to create an NFS link between the two boxes. I have logged into both via SSH as root, created mount points and attempted to mount thus > mount -t nfs server1:/nfs/Public /mnt/nfs-server1 from server 2 and likewise from server1. I have added the server names to the /etc/hosts files and a ping command shows that resolution is successful. The error is “failed: no such device”. However I know that the device name is correct because if I issue the same command from Linux or Mac OS, the mount succeeds. Any advice please?

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2

The error suggests that NFS support may be limited or missing on the MyBookWorld devices themselves. While they allow NFS exports, they might not have the necessary kernel modules or NFS client functionality to mount remote shares. You can check if the NFS client is available by running cat /proc/filesystems | grep nfs. If it’s missing, your best option is to transfer data via a third machine (Linux/Mac) that can mount both shares and handle the copy. Alternatively, consider using rsync over SSH between the two devices.

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Your issue likely stems from missing NFS client support on the MyBookWorld White Light devices. While you can mount NFS shares from Linux or Mac, the devices themselves may lack the necessary kernel modules or utilities.

First, check if NFS support is available by running:
cat /proc/filesystems | grep nfs
If it’s missing, try loading the module with modprobe nfs. If that fails, the device firmware may not include the required components.

Next, ensure you are using NFSv3 explicitly:
mount -t nfs -o nfsvers=3 server1:/nfs/Public /mnt/nfs-server1
Adding the nolock option may also help:
mount -t nfs -o nolock server1:/nfs/Public /mnt/nfs-server1
Check that the NFS server processes (rpc.mountd and nfsd) are running on both devices with:
ps aux | grep nfs

Verify that /etc/exports allows access from both devices and restart NFS with:
exportfs -ra
/etc/init.d/nfs restart

If mounting still fails, inspect kernel logs using dmesg | tail -50 for clues.

As an alternative, consider using rsync over SSH for file transfers:
rsync -avz /nfs/Public root@server2:/nfs/Public
SMB/CIFS shares might also be an option if NFS proves unreliable.

Let me know if you need further troubleshooting!