Test if an NFS server is accessible

To test if an NFS server is accessible, use the command showmount. To do this, open a console and enter

# showmount -e localhost

in this case localhost will be queried for NFS shares ("exports") that it provides.

In case the nfs service is not started you might get the following error message:

clnt_create: RPC: Program not registered

Stupid error message, right? Anyway after starting the NFS service using the command

/etc/init.d/nfs-user-server start || /etc/init.d/nfsserver start

you will find an output telling you what is available via NFS like this:

# showmount -e localhost
Export list for localhost:
/public *

That means you can mount the following:

mount localhost:/public /mnt

If you get an error message

portmapper not running 

Start the following service:

/etc/init.d/rpcbind start

See also

• nfs