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.

## Summary of Contents

Table i suggests a way of using each chapter in this guide.

Table 1. ONC3/NFS Administrator's Guide Chapter Summaries

Chapter | When to Read | Summary
--- | --- | ---
Chapter 1, “Understanding ONC3/NFS” | If you are new to ONC3/NFS, begin here. If you already have ONC3/NFS experience, you can skip Chapter 1. | Introduces the vocabulary of ONC3/NFS, and the fundamentals of ONC3/NFS operation.
Chapter 2, “Planning ONC3/NFS Service” | Read before setting up ONC3/NFS and before moving on to Chapter 4, “Setting Up and Testing ONC3/NFS.” | Explains ONC3/NFS processes and their options in detail.
Chapter 3, “Using Automatic Mounter Map Options” | Read this chapter if you plan to customize your automatic mounter environment. | Describes special features of the automatic mounters.
Chapter 4, “Setting Up and Testing ONC3/NFS” | Use this chapter as you begin implementing the ONC3/NFS service on your network. | Contains procedures for implementing ONC3/NFS on server and client systems and verifying their operation.
Chapter 5, “Maintaining ONC3/NFS” | During routine upkeep of ONC3/NFS refer to Chapter 5. | Contains procedures for changing the parameters in ONC3/NFS after it is in service.
Chapter 6, “Troubleshooting ONC3 /NFS” | When diagnosing and trying to correct ONC3/NFS problems Chpater 6 is useful. You may also need to understand NIS to implement some suggestions. | 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” | When resolving a displayed error message search through this appendix. | Explains error messages that may result from 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

## Supplementary Documentation

You can find supplementary information in these documents:

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

- NIS Administration Guide explains how to set up and maintain Silicon Graphic'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.

- Defense Data Network Protocol Handbook, available from the Network Information Center, 14200 Park Meadow Dr., Suite 200, Chantilly, VA 22021. This three-volume set contains information on TCP/IP and UDP/IP.

- Stern, Hal. Managing NFS and NIS O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 1991. This book contains detailed, but not Silicon Graphics-specific, information about NFS and how to administer and use it.

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.

## Typographical Conventions

These type conventions and symbols are used in this guide:

Italics |  | Filenames, variables, IRIX command arguments, map names, the first use of new terms, titles of publications
`bold` |  | Command line options
`Screen type` |  | Code examples, file excerpts, and screen displays (including error messages)
`Bold Screen type` |  | User input
() |  | (Parentheses) Following IRIX commands, they surround the reference page (man page) section where the command is described
[] |  | (Brackets) Surround optional syntax statement arguments

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Record of Revision |  | Chapter 1. Understanding ONC3/NFS