Large export list leads to "Invalid argument" errors when executing 'exportfs -r'

DISCUSSION Marc Schmitt 1 participant 3 messages Jul 5, 2003 – Aug 28, 2003

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Marc Schmitt

author

2003-07-05 11:44 UTC #0 lore raw

Hi all,

I'm using RedHat 7.3 as NFS server, kernel 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp, nfs-utils 1.0.3.

For each home directory, we make an entry into /etc/exports of the type:

/export/home/<login> @<login>(rw,sync)

The @<login> netgroups contain usually a whole bunch of machines in FQDN notation.

This setup used to work fine, I could add a new entry to /etc/exports and issue 'exportfs -r' and everything would work as expected, the new home could be mounted on the machines in @<login>.

Somehow, with /etc/exports growing more and more (currently 137 entries), 'exportfs -r' started giving errors of the type:

<somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login>: Invalid argument

Currently, I get three of those error lines for three entries in /etc/exports. Lokks like it fails when it tries to unexport the entry, 'exportsfs -r -v' shows:

unexporting <somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login> from kernel <somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login>: Invalid argument

I made several tests, even when I delete the line in /etc/exports for <login>, 'exportfs -r' will still give this error. I've deleted the corresponding entry in /var/lib/nfs/xtab but 'exportfs -r' would just add it again, obviously it's cached in the kernel table.

Looking at 'showmount -a', I noticed that the server thinks, that <somehost> has /export/home/<login> mounted, still. Even though the client does not have the home mounted from the server. I mounted the home on <somehost>, unmounted and issued 'exportfs -r' on the server and the error message "somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login>:
Invalid argument" did not appear again.

Interestingly, I have not seen this error message for linux clients. The two machines I have seen it for are:
- SunOS 5.9
- IRIX64 6.5
But then I'm seeing this error for a week only, now.

The server seems to work fine, though. Even if it reports an error for <somehost>, <somehost> can mount the corresponding home. I just wanted to report this issue and will gladly provide more infos if required.

Regards,
Marc

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Marc Schmitt

author

2003-07-07 11:52 UTC #1 lore raw

I just wanted to add, I get many nfsd Security messages on the console, too:

nfsd Security: //c bad export.
nfsd Security: //c bad export.
nfsd Security: //c bad export.
nfsd Security: /// bad export.
nfsd Security: //n bad export.
nfsd Security: //s bad export.
nfsd Security: //s bad export.
nfsd Security: //n bad export.
nfsd Security: //w bad export.
nfsd Security: //w bad export.
nfsd Security: //l bad export.
nfsd Security: //n bad export.

The directory structure for the homes described in the original post does not match reality, it's:

/export/home/<first letter of login>/<login>

I guess the error messages above refer to <first letter of login>. But there are no exports on the /export/home/<first letter of login> at all in /etc/exports...

Regards,
Marc

Marc Schmitt

author

2003-08-28 08:56 UTC #2 lore raw

In reply to Marc Schmitt

Quoted 33 lines · Marc Schmitt

Hi all,
I'm using RedHat 7.3 as NFS server, kernel 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp, nfs-utils 1.0.3.
For each home directory, we make an entry into /etc/exports of the type:
/export/home/<login> @<login>(rw,sync)
The @<login> netgroups contain usually a whole bunch of machines in FQDN notation.
This setup used to work fine, I could add a new entry to /etc/exports and issue 'exportfs -r' and everything would work as expected, the new home could be mounted on the machines in @<login>.
Somehow, with /etc/exports growing more and more (currently 137 entries), 'exportfs -r' started giving errors of the type:
<somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login>: Invalid argument
Currently, I get three of those error lines for three entries in /etc/exports. Lokks like it fails when it tries to unexport the entry, 'exportsfs -r -v' shows:
unexporting <somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login> from kernel <somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login>: Invalid argument
I made several tests, even when I delete the line in /etc/exports for <login>, 'exportfs -r' will still give this error. I've deleted the corresponding entry in /var/lib/nfs/xtab but 'exportfs -r' would just add it again, obviously it's cached in the kernel table.

Quoted 7 lines

Looking at 'showmount -a', I noticed that the server thinks, that <somehost> has /export/home/<login> mounted, still. Even though the client does not have the home mounted from the server. I mounted the home on <somehost>, unmounted and issued 'exportfs -r' on the server and the error message "somehost part of @<login>>:/export/home/<login>:
Invalid argument" did not appear again.

FYI: this problem went away with the update from nfs-utils 1.0.3 to 1.0.5. Since the update, even though the export table has grown considerably again menawhile, I have not seen the "Invalid argument" error again.

Greetz
Marc

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