NFS export of evolution

[Andrew L. Gould]

On Monday 10 January 2005 02:45 pm, Robert Marella wrote:
> On Mon, 2005-01-10 at 10:01 +0100, Erik Norgaard wrote:
> > Robert Marella wrote:
> > > Hello
> > >
> > > I am not sure where this problem should go so I am posting to
> > > -questions.
> > >
> > > I have a SOHO set up with several computers running a mix of
> > > FreeBSD 5.3 Release and Stable. I have an NFS server set up so
> > > that data can be shared at all of the computers.
> > >
> > > I would like to have the ability to retrieve mail from any of the
> > > computers I happen to be logged into. I have tried various
> > > permutations of exporting /home, /home/reg-user, and
> > > /home/reg-user/.evolution and I always get the same error when
> > > trying to read mail.
> > >
> > > I am able to mount the directory(ies) on the client computers and
> > > am able to call up evolution and see the messages but when I try
> > > to read any message I get this error
> > >
> > > *****************************************************************
> > >* Error while Retrieving message 1292 (this number varies of
> > > course)
> > >
> > > Failed to get lock using fcntl(2): Operation not supported.
> > > *****************************************************************
> > >*
> > >
> > > I read the man page for fcntl but I didn't get any help out of
> > > it. It was way over my head.
> > >
> > > Here is the important bits from /etc/exports
> > >
> > > /home/reg-user/.evolution -alldirs notebook.my.local.lan
> > >
> > > I have also tried -maproot with out any luck. I would think this
> > > is possible but I guess I haven't set up the right conditions or
> > > options. Can anyone help me out?
> >
> > The error appears to be with filelocking not mounting. Filelocking
> > is a problem on NFS as many independent systems might try to get
> > write access to the same file at the same time. Do you have:
> >
> > rpc_lockd_enable="YES" # Run NFS rpc.lockd needed for
> > client/server. rpc_statd_enable="YES" # Run NFS rpc.statd needed
> > for client/server.
> >
> > in your rc.conf?
>
> Eric,
> No I do not have that in my rc.conf. I tried adding it and got the
> same results. Should I try to change the values to ="NO" ??
>
> Thanks for responding.
>
> Robert
>

I had a hard time sharing NFS directories that were not actual mount 
points.  When I changed the shared directories in /etc/exports to 
actual mount points (not directories below them) with -alldirs, I was 
able to mount the specific subdirectories I wanted on the client side.  
Although /etc/exports allows me to limit access to my own user, the 
idea of sharing whole mount points makes me a little nervous, so I 
don't use NFS much.   I'm sure I've done something wrong; but I found 
it easier to use the alternatives below than to hunt down the problem.

If you can't get NFS working, you might try:

1. Sharing files via webdav.  This would be convenient if you're already 
running a web server and your clients browse using konqueror.  I use 
webdav with ssl on Apache2.

2. Accessing remote email and PIM applications using tightvnc.

Good luck,

Andrew Gould