Bug 65410 - RH 7.3/ Solaris NFS problem using nfsvers=3
Summary: RH 7.3/ Solaris NFS problem using nfsvers=3
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED CURRENTRELEASE
Alias: None
Product: Red Hat Linux
Classification: Retired
Component: nfs-server
Version: 7.3
Hardware: i686
OS: Linux
medium
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Steve Dickson
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2002-05-23 13:19 UTC by Need Real Name
Modified: 2007-04-18 16:42 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2004-08-11 11:16:25 UTC
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Need Real Name 2002-05-23 13:19:31 UTC
From Bugzilla Helper:
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.78 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.18-6mdk i686)

Description of problem:
On a Dell 2450 RH 7.3 machine running kernel-smp-2.4.18-4, I have 
an NFS mount from Solaris 8 machine. For large transfers, the linux
server locks up if the mount uses nfsvers=3. If I force the mount to
nfsvers=2, the machine does not lock up.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):


How reproducible:
Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. mount -o nfsvers=3 solaris8:/export/dk1 /mnt/test
2. cp valhalla-i386-disc1.iso /mnt/test
3. ** Machine locks up **
4. /etc/init.d/network restart
5. umount /mnt/test
6. mount -o nfsvers=2 solaris8:/export/dk1 /mnt/test
7. cp valhalla-i386-disc1.iso /mnt/test
8. ** COPY WORKS! **
	

Additional info:

Comment 1 Cris Rhea 2002-05-28 20:44:14 UTC
This is a serious problem- seems to be related to bugs: 64921, 64984, 65016,
65069. 

The other bugs suggest a variety of work-arounds. I need to know what really
broke/changed and what the correct workaround is (I've got NT-based servers
running NFS that don't do NFS V2 well).

Seems to be three variables suggested:

1. Change to NFS V2
2. Set the Read/Write block size
3. Set TCP on NFS V3.

Background: I had to upgrade from RH7.2 due to a bug in KDE-  KDE was creating
a file in the user's home dir with a colon in the name- illegal when the user's
home was on an NT server (mounted via NFS). RH7.3 deals with this issue 
with KDE 3.0, but becomes a show-stopper due to the unexpected major problem
with NFS. 

Come on folks! This is EXACTLY the kind of situation my upper management
uses for "Linux/Red Hat isn't ready for prime time" arguments.





Comment 2 Wes Barris 2002-06-03 04:34:00 UTC
I have noticed the exact same problem:
NFS server: Solaris 8
NFS client: Redhat 7.3
On the freshly installed Redhat 7.3 system, copying a large file from the local disk to an NFS mounted
volume would hang the system.  Upgrading the Redhat kernel to 2.4.18-4 produced no changes in
the outcome.

Setting "nfsvers=2" in  /etc/fstab fixes the problem when copying a large file.  However, periodically
(usually after some period of inactivity on the Redhat system), when typing a simple command (like
typing 'ls' while your current directory is an NFS mounted filesystem) will hang the system in the
same way resulting in a series of these messages:

nfs server <hostname> not responding, timed out

This is occuring on a brand new Dell Precision 530MT.

Comment 3 Need Real Name 2002-09-05 20:53:35 UTC
I have similar problems since upgrading to RH7.3.

1) A linux box is running an NFS server and exports a directory.  This directory has a word 2000 document.  The
  directroy is mounted by a win 2K box.  From office 2000, I attempt to open the document.  Word hangs and
  must be killed in the task manager.  If I first COPY the file from the NFS directory to a local one on the windows
  box, then word opens the file just fine.  The NFS client on the windows box is the standard microsoft Unix tools
  add-on.  This behavior is very consistent.

2) I have various files from various machines that get dropped into an NFS directory.  One of the machines
  processes these files.  Once per minute, a cron job wakes up, walks through the directory, copies the files
  locally (I had to do this extra step because of the same problem as above with word), then processes them.
  Two problems happen:

A) Files get placed in the NFS directory, then mysteriously disappear.  I know this because of the logs kept on
  the various servers.  Also, the files are serial numbered.  I can see that the files were placed onto the NFS
  server and I can also see gaps in the serial numbers on the processing machine's logs.  All of these machines
  are RH Linux.  Most are RH7.3.  The only straggler in the bunch is the processing machine which is RH6.0 with
  security patches.  When the NFS server is replaced with an RS/6000 running AIX4.2, everything works great.
  This seems to imply it is an issue with the NFS server, not the client.

B) The NFS directory structure does not update properly.  The processing machine (Perl script)  reads in the
  directory listing, then one at a time, copies a file locally, processes it and deletes it from the NFS server.  If there
  are any problems, it sends me an email.  I get emails telling me that various files cannot be found.  What is
  happening is that the file gets processed and deleted.  A minute later, the cron job starts again, looks through
  the NFS directory and gets some of the SAME FILENAMES again.  When it goes to process these, they have
  been deleted a minute prior, so there is an error.  I verified in the logs that the "bad" files did indeed get
  processed one minute prior.  This problem goes away if the NFS server is changed from Linux to an IBM
  RS/6000 running AIX4.2.

I suspect that both of the above problems are related.  It appears to be a problem with how the NFS directory
structure is managed.  Locally, the directory is fine, but to a client, it is screwed up.

The filesystem on the Linux NFS server is ext3.


These problems are holding me back from installing Linux at several client sites.  I cannot afford to have an
NFS solution that is not 100%.  I will have to go with a Novell or (ick) ms solution if this is not resolved.


Comment 4 Chuck Lever 2002-09-06 13:46:22 UTC
all -- if TCP solves your problem, you may have network problems that are
preventing NFS over UDP from working.  a packet trace would show exactly
what is happening.
 
redhat@steeleware -- your problem may be due to close-to-open cache
inconsistency.  which version of the kernel runs on your systems?
do some of your problems vanish if you upgrade to 2.4.19 on the clients?
i'm sorry to say i don't have any experience with the Win2K NFS client.

Comment 5 Ben LaHaise 2002-09-10 18:15:51 UTC
Adding information on completely separate problems to existing bug entries
ensures that the new problems probably won't be handled.  Please don't do that.
 In any event, this bug is stale since it has not been updated with the effects
of using newer kernel errata (-5 or newer).

Comment 6 Steve Dickson 2004-08-11 11:16:25 UTC
This issue seems to be fixed in later kernels


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