7 Using the Network File System

(NFS)

7-1

Using the Network File System (NFS)

About This Chapter

About This Chapter

This chapter provides a short introduction to the network file system

(NFS), and describes how to configure your analyzer to use NFS. The following topics are included:

• Introduction to NFS

• Setting Up NFS

• Using NFS Automount—Connecting to Network Resources

Automatically

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Using the Network File System (NFS)

Introduction to NFS

Introduction to NFS

Network file system (NFS) is a client/server application that provides access to remote

1

files and directories using the LAN. With NFS, remote files and directories behave like local

2

files and directories. The remote file system can be used from your analyzer's

Save/Recall

menu as if it were a local device. The remote file system can be part of a PC, workstation, or other computing device.

NFS allows you to save test data from your analyzer directly to a remote directory; the remote machine does not have to initiate an ftp session to retrieve the data. This can make saving data in an automated environment, with many analyzers running independently, very easy. As a result, NFS simplifies central management of analyzer files and directories.

NFS requires an NFS server and an NFS client. The server is a computer that makes its local file system available to NFS clients, using a process called exporting (or sharing). An NFS client is a computer that uses the file system made available by the NFS server using a process called

mounting. The file system that is exported by the NFS server is

mounted by the NFS client and behaves like part of the client’s local file system. When using NFS, your analyzer comprises the NFS client part of the Network File System. You must provide a workstation, PC or other computer to serve as the NFS server, and it must include an NFS server application.

1. Remote files and directories are part of a file system different than the analyzer file system—they are stored remotely in a computer.

2. Local files and directories are part of the analyzer file system—they are stored locally within the analyzer.

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Using the Network File System (NFS)

Introduction to NFS

NFS Protocols

Current implementations of NFS use transmission control protocol

(TCP) as the transport protocol

1

over the network. TCP is a reliable protocol designed to provide guaranteed data delivery. Your analyzer uses TCP/IP over the LAN.

NFS also uses remote procedure call (RPC) protocol. RPC is a client/server protocol providing remote services to a local application

(program). The local application can request and execute a procedure on a remote machine, pass data to the remote procedure, and retrieve data from the remote procedure. RPC is a key component of the NFS.

7-4

1. The transport protocol governs how data is transmitted over a network.

LAN Interface Supplement

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Setting Up NFS

Configuring the Analyzer as an NFS Client

NFS Fundamentals

Your analyzer implements the client side of the network file system

(NFS). As an NFS client, your analyzer accesses the remote

1

file system by mounting the remote file system. If the remote file system is mounted successfully, it can be accessed from your analyzer's as if it were a local

2

device.

Save/Recall menu

To configure the NFS client on your analyzer, you will need to set up an

NFS server on the remote system. NFS servers are readily available with most UNIX operating systems. To use NFS with a PC, you will need

NFS server software for the PC. Consult your network administrator about obtaining an NFS server for your PC.

NFS uses remote procedure call (RPC) authentication for file access permissions. To be able to read and write to your remote file system, you must enter a user ID and a group ID for your analyzer. A default user ID

(2001) and a default group ID (100) are assigned for you before the analyzer is shipped. If the defaults do not work for you, consult your network administrator about obtaining a user ID and group ID.

1. Remote files and directories are part of a file system different than the analyzer file system—they are stored remotely in a computer.

2. Local files and directories are part of the analyzer file system—they are stored locally within the analyzer.

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NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Preliminary Requirements

Before setting up the NFS client on your analyzer, do the following:

• Set up an NFS server on the remote system. Consult your system administrator if you are unsure how to do this.

• Collect the following information required to configure your analyzer as the NFS client:

✓ The host name and IP address for the remote system (the server).

For example:

host1

and

123.046.025.221

✓ The name of your remote file system or subdirectory.

For example:

/users/yourname/na_setups

✓ The user ID and the group ID to allow access to the remote host file system.

For example

: user ID = 2001, group ID = 100

✓ A local name to assign to the remote file system. Choose a local name which is short and easy to remember. Append a colon (:) or some other special character if you need to distinguish a device name from a subdirectory name on your

Save/Recall

menu.

For example:

c:\nfs\setups

You may find it convenient to use an external keyboard when performing the following procedure.

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NOTE

NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Mounting a Remote Host File System

The file system that is exported by the NFS server is mounted by the

NFS client, and behaves like part of the local file system. Perform the following procedure to set up your analyzer to mount to a remote host file system:

1. Press

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN NFS Device Setup

.

2. Press

Mount NFS Device

.

3. Type the remote host IP address or remote hostname in the dialog box displayed on the screen.

4. Press

Enter

to confirm your entry when you are done.

In order to use a remote hostname , you must set up a

HOSTS

file on your local non-volatile RAM Disk. A

HOSTS

file is not required to use a host IP address. See

“Using a Local HOSTS File” on page 7-11 for details.

5. Type the name of the remote host file system or subdirectory in the dialog box now displayed.

6. Press

Enter

to confirm your entry when you are done.

All NFS directory names and file names are case-sensitive. This is unlike the local analyzer file system where directory and file names are not case-sensitive.

7. If required, press

Clear Entry

and type in a new name for the default local file system name provided.

8. Press

Enter

when you are done changing the name, or if the default name is acceptable.

To retype the file system names, first press [Cancel], then press

[Remote IP Addr/Host] to start from the beginning.

At this point, the analyzer will attempt to mount the remote file system. If the remote file system is successfully mounted, the analyzer will display

NFS Mount to <host> successful where

<host>

is the remote host name or IP address.

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NOTE

NOTE

NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

You can mount up to seven remote NFS file systems as servers. An error will occur if you try to mount more than seven devices.

When you press

Enter

on the

NFS Setup

entry line without inputting a name or address, the analyzer will attempt to mount your

NFS device using the existing entries.

If the local file system name is empty because used, or if

Enter

Clear Entry

has been

was pressed without changing the default name, the remote file system name will be used as the local file system name.

9. If the remote file system is mounted successfully, you can press

[Automount At Powerup] to mount the remote file system automatically on powerup. You can also set up automount devices in the [Automount Setup] menu. See

“Using NFS

Automount—Connecting to Network Resources Automatically” on page 7-13

for details.

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NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Confirming Remote File System Mounting

To find out if a remote file system has been successfully mounted, press

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN NFS Device Setup

NFS Device Table

Dvice Setup

Dvice Setup

The analyzer will display an NFS device table containing three columns

(left to right):

1. Device number, in the order mounted

2. Name of the local file system

3. Remote file system name and IP address

Press

Local Path

system.

to view an expanded version of your local file

Press

Remote Path

system.

to view an expanded version of your remote file

Setting up NFS Client Authentication IDs

Perform the following steps to set up authentication IDs for your NFS client:

1. Press

2. Press

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN NFS Device Setup

Authentication

Dvice Setup

User ID

.

Dvice Setup

and type in the user ID for your remote file system.

3. Press

Group ID

system.

and type in the group ID for your remote file

Some systems use only the user ID. If your remote file system does not use a group ID, use the default Group ID value.

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NOTE

NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Unmounting a Remote File System

Perform the following steps to unmount a remote file system from your analyzer:

1. Press

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN Unmount NFS Device

.

If the displayed NFS device table is empty, there are no mounted file systems to unmount.

2. Select the device that you want to unmount and press the softkey corresponding to that device.

If the device is successfully unmounted, the device will be removed from the displayed NFS device table. If the NFS device is not present, an error message will be displayed after the analyzer times out, and the device will be removed from the NFS device table. The device will also be removed from the NFS device table if it is unmounted unsuccessfully due to disconnected links.

The NFS device table always compacts itself and refreshes the displayed information after a successful unmount.

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Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Using a Local

HOSTS

File

You can add one or more host names of other network devices to a local

HOSTS

file. This file associates host IP addresses with host names, so that you can use the host name instead of the host IP address to mount and automount Network File System (NFS) devices.

On powerup, your analyzer will load the local

HOSTS

file from non-volatile RAM. You can then use the host name in

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN NFS Device Setup

SYSTEM OPTIONS

Automount Dev Setup

Dvice Setup

LAN

.

Dvice Setup

Dvice Setup

and

Creating and Saving a Local

HOSTS

File

You can create a local

HOSTS

file using an ASCII text editor on your computer or workstation. Save the file locally, and transfer it to your analyzer’s non-volatile RAM disk using a 3.5” disk, FTP or NFS. Refer to

“Using FTP to Access the Analyzer” on page 4-3

for information about disk or FTP file transfers.

HOSTS

File Format Rules

The

HOSTS

file is an ASCII text file formatted according to the following rules:

1. The file name must be

HOSTS

, with no file extension.

2. Any combination of upper case and lower case letters can be used in the file name. The analyzer file system is case-insensitive, and will accept and use files saved with the name

HOSTS

, regardless of the case of the letters originally in the name.

3. Each IP address and host name pair must be on a single line with the

IP address first and the corresponding host name next.

4. The IP address and the corresponding host name must be separated by at least one space character.

5. Optional comments can be included, and must begin with a “

#

” character.

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NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

The following is an example of a valid

HOSTS

file:

#

#

# This is a sample hosts file

#

#

#

15.4.45.232 host1 # John Doe's workstation

15.4.45.233 host2 # Jane Doe's PC

If you place the above

HOSTS

file in non-volatile RAM and power cycle your analyzer, you can use the name host1

to mount an NFS device by name instead of the IP address

15.4.45.232

.

The

HOSTS

file is loaded only at power-up. If you add new entries to the file, you will have to cycle power to the instrument in order for the new entries to take effect.

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NOTE

NOTE

NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Using NFS Automount—Connecting to

Network Resources Automatically

NFS Automount allows your analyzer to automatically mount one or more NFS devices on power-up without user intervention.

Adding Devices to the Automount Device Table

Adding an NFS device to the automount device table does not guarantee a successful mount. To ensure a working NFS mount, add NFS devices to the automount list only after a successful test of the mount process.

See

“Configuring the Analyzer as an NFS Client” on page 7-5

for details.

Follow the steps below to add a device to the automount device table:

1. Press

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN NFS Device Setup

Automount Setup

.

Dvice Setup

Dvice Setup

2. Press

Remote IP Addr/Host

and enter the remote host name or the IP address in the provided dialog box.

Designating an automount NFS host by name requires a local

HOSTS

file.

See “Using a Local HOSTS File” on page 7-11

for details.

3. Press

Enter

to confirm your entry.

4. Press

Remote Path

and enter the remote host file system name in the provided dialog box.

5. Press

Enter

to confirm your entry.

6. Press

Local Path

. The remote file system name is provided as the default local file system name.

a. Press

Enter

to use the default local file system name.

b. To use your own local file system name, press enter a unique local file system name. Press

Clear Entry

Enter

and

to confirm your entry.

If the local file system name is NULL or is an empty string (entered by pressing

Clear Entry

and

Enter

without typing anything), the remote file system name will be used as the local file system name.

7. Press

Automount At Powerup

to add the NFS file system to the

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NOTE

NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Pressing

Automount At Powerup

does not trigger a NFS mount process.

See “Configuring the Analyzer as an NFS Client” on page 7-5

to mount NFS devices.

Verifying Automount Entries

Perform the following steps to verify that the NFS device has been successfully added to the automount device table:

1. Press

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN NFS Device Setup

Automount Setup

.

Dvice Setup

Dvice Setup

2. Press

Automount Dev Table

table.

Dvice Setup

to display the automount device

The automount device table has three columns. The first column lists the device numbers. The second column lists the given name for your local file system. The third column lists remote file system names and the remote host IP addresses. The lines in the automount device table are listed in the order they were entered.

3. Press

Local Path

to verify the local file system information.

4. Press

Remote Path

to verify the remote file system information.

Removing an NFS Device from the Automount Table

Perform the following steps to remove an NFS device from the automount table:

1. Press

Automount Setup

Dvice Setup

2. Press

SYSTEM OPTIONS

LAN NFS Device Setup

.

Remove Automount

Dvice Setup

. The automount device table will be

The numbers on the automount device table match the device numbers displayed on the softkeys. If the table is empty, you do not have any NFS devices in the automount device table.

3. Select the device that you want to remove from the table and press the softkey which corresponds to that device.

The automount device table always compacts itself after a successful removal.

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NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Using Save/Recall with NFS

NFS Fundamentals

To access file systems with NFS, you will have to set up at least one NFS device.

See “Configuring the Analyzer as an NFS Client” on page 7-5

in this chapter for details on how to do this. The following procedures assume you have already set up at least one NFS device.

Selecting a Remote Device

To save or recall a state, a program, or measurement data to or from an

NFS device, you must first select an NFS device from the [Select Disk] menu. Since NFS provides transparent access to the remote file system, the procedure for saving or recalling an instrument state or program

remotely is the same as that used to save or recall an instrument state or program locally. See

Chapter 4, “Accessing the Analyzer's File System

Using FTP,” as well as

“Copying Programs to and from the Analyzer” on page 5-7 and

“Saving and Recalling Analyzer States” on page 5-5 for

information on how to save or recall a state or program to a local device.

Also see “Saving and Recalling Measurement Results” in Chapter 4 of the User’s Guide for your analyzer.

To select an NFS device do the following:

1. Press

SAVE RECALL

Select Disk NFS Device

.

The analyzer displays a two-column NFS device table. The first column contains the device numbers which correspond to the device numbers on the front panel softkeys. The second column contains the local path or device names for the NFS devices.

2. Choose an NFS device to use for save/recall and press the corresponding front panel softkey. If the remote NFS device you selected is still available, the analyzer will display the directory for your remote NFS device.

The analyzer will report a disk error and switch back to

Non-Vol RAM Disk

if there is a network problem, or if the remote device is not available. You will have to set up the NFS device again before using it with save/recall.

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NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Some of the remote files may show the word unknown

in the file attributes column. This may be due to the lack of appropriate file access permissions. NFS authentication must be set up correctly for you to have permission to access certain files on your remote NFS device. To make sure that all required files are accessible from your analyzer, confirm that your NFS authentication user ID and group ID match the corresponding IDs on the remote system.

See “Configuring the Analyzer as an NFS Client” on page 7-5 for details.

Copying Files to a Remote NFS Device

Perform the following steps to copy files from a local device to a remote

NFS device:

1. Press

SAVE RECALL

Select Disk

.

2. Choose a local device that you want to copy files from and select it by pressing the corresponding softkey.

3. Press

SAVE RECALL

File Utilities

to use the file utilities menu.

4. Select the file that you want to copy.

5. Press

Copy File

to copy the selected file or [Copy All Files] to copy all the files in the current directory.

6. Press

Copy to NFS Device

to copy the file or files to an NFS device. A dialog box with the currently selected NFS device and selected file name is displayed on top of the screen.

7. Press

Enter

if the destination device and destination file name is correct. Otherwise, enter the correct destination file path and press

Enter

.

The device name and file name are case-sensitive, and you can append the file name with either a '/' or '\' between the device name and the file name.

If you encounter a file access error, make sure that your network and the remote system are working correctly and that the NFS authentication IDs are set up correctly.

The NFS device name for the destination must match the NFS path name used when the NFS device was mounted.

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NOTE

Using the Network File System (NFS)

Setting Up NFS

Copying Files from a Remote NFS Device

Perform the following steps to copy files from a remote NFS device to a local device:

Your analyzer does not support file copy from a remote NFS device to another remote NFS device.

1. Press

SAVE RECALL

Select Disk NFS Device

.

2. Choose an NFS device that you want to copy files from and select it by pressing the corresponding softkey.

3. Press

SAVE RECALL

File Utilities

to use the file utilities menu.

4. Select the file that you want to copy.

5. Press

Copy File

to copy the selected file or [Copy All Files] to copy all the files in the current directory.

6. Press

Copy to NonVol RAM

Copy to 3.5” Disk

,

Copy to Vol RAM

, or

to copy the file or files to the desired local device. A dialog box with the currently selected local device and selected file name is displayed on top of the screen.

7. Press

Enter

if the destination device and destination file name is correct. Otherwise, enter the correct destination file path and press

Enter

.

The device name and file name are case-sensitive, and you can append the file name with either a '/' or '\' between the device name and the file name.

If you encounter a file access error, make sure that your network and the remote system are working correctly and that the NFS authentication IDs are set up correctly.

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