About This Guide
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## About This Guide

The ONC3/NFS Administrator's Guide documents the SGI Open Network Computing/Network File System (ONC3/NFS). The purpose of this guide is to provide the information needed to set up and maintain the ONC3/NFS services. It explains ONC3/NFS software fundamentals and provides procedures to help you install, test, and troubleshoot ONC3/NFS on your network. It also contains planning information and recommendations for administering the service.

The following topics are covered:

- Chapter 1, “Understanding ONC3/NFS”

  Introduces the vocabulary of ONC3/NFS and the fundamentals of ONC3/NFS operation.

- Chapter 2, “Planning ONC3/NFS Service”

  Explains ONC3/NFS processes and their options in detail.

- Chapter 3, “Using Automatic Mounter Map Options”

  Describes special features of the automatic mounters.

- Chapter 4, “Setting Up and Testing ONC3/NFS”

  Contains procedures for implementing ONC3/NFS on server and client systems and verifying their operation.

- Chapter 5, “Maintaining ONC3/NFS”

  Contains procedures for changing the parameters in ONC3/NFS after it is in service.

- Chapter 6, “Troubleshooting ONC3/NFS”

Provides general problem-solving information and check-out procedures. Also describes specific problems that can occur with ONC3/NFS and suggests what you can do to correct them.

- Appendix A, “ONC3/NFS Error Messages”Appendix A, “ONC3/NFS Error Messages”

  Explains error messages that may result from the incorrect use of ONC3/NFS.

## What You Should Know

To use the setup and maintenance information in this guide, you should have experience in the following areas:

- Setting up network services

- Assessing the needs of network users

- Maintaining hosts databases

- Understanding the UNIX file system structure

- Using UNIX editors

To troubleshoot ONC3/NFS, you should be familiar with these concepts:

- Theory of network services

- SGI's network implementation

## Related Publications

The following publications contain additional information that may be helpful:

- IRIX Admin: Networking and Mail explains the fundamentals of system and network administration for SGI systems on a local area network.

- NIS Administration Guide explains how to set up and maintain SGI's implementation of the network information service.

- IRIX Network Programming Guide explains the programmatic interfaces to ONC3/NFS.

- Diskless Workstation Administration Guide describes the setup and maintenance of diskless workstations.

- Getting Started With BDSpro describes how to configure BDSpro to extend standard NFS performance.

For information about using the SGI comprehensive product support and maintenance program for this product, refer to the Release Notes that accompany it. The ONC3/NFS Release Notes contains a complete list of software modules and prerequisites. IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing provides instructions for installation.

## Obtaining Publications

You can obtain SGI documentation in the following ways:

- See the SGI Technical Publications Library at http://docs.sgi.com . Various formats are available. This library contains the most recent and most comprehensive set of online books, release notes, man pages, and other information.

- If it is installed on your SGI system, you can use InfoSearch, an online tool that provides a more limited set of online books, release notes, and man pages. With an IRIX system, select Help from the Toolchest, and then select InfoSearch. Or you can type `infosearch` on a command line.

- You can also view release notes by typing either `grelnotes` or `relnotes` on a command line.

- You can also view man pages by typing `man` <title> on a command line.

## Conventions

The following conventions are used throughout this publication:

Convention | Meaning
`command` | This fixed-space font denotes literal items such as commands, files, routines, path names, signals, messages, and programming language structures.
variable | Italic typeface denotes variable entries and words or concepts being defined.
`user input` | This bold, fixed-space font denotes literal items that the user enters in interactive sessions. (Output is shown in nonbold, fixed-space font.)
[] | Brackets enclose optional portions of a command or directive line.
... | Ellipses indicate that a preceding element can be repeated.
`manpage`(x) | Man page section identifiers appear in parentheses after man page names.
GUI element | This font denotes the names of graphical user interface (GUI) elements such as windows, screens, dialog boxes, menus, toolbars, icons, buttons, boxes, fields, and lists.

## Reader Comments

If you have comments about the technical accuracy, content, or organization of this document, contact SGI. Be sure to include the title and document number of the manual with your comments. (Online, the document number is located in the front matter of the manual. In printed manuals, the document number is located at the bottom of each page.)

You can contact SGI in any of the following ways:

- Send e-mail to the following address:

  techpubs@sgi.com |  |

- Use the Feedback option on the Technical Publications Library Web page:

      http://docs.sgi.com

- Contact your customer service representative and ask that an incident be filed in the SGI incident tracking system.

- Send mail to the following address:

  Technical Publications
  SGI
  1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, M/S 535
  Mountain View, California 94043-1351

- Send a fax to the attention of “Technical Publications” at +1 650 932 0801.

SGI values your comments and will respond to them promptly.

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What's New in This Guide |  | Chapter 1. Understanding ONC3/NFS