nohide
This option is based on the option of the same name provided in IRIX NFS. Normally, if a server exports two filesystems one of which is mounted on the other, then the client will have to mount both filesystems explicitly to get access to them. If it just mounts the parent, it will see an empty directory at the place where the other filesystem is mounted. That filesystem is "hidden".
Setting the nohide option on a filesystem causes it not to be hidden, and an appropriately authorised client will be able to move from the parent to that filesystem without noticing the change.
However, some NFS clients do not cope well with this situation as, for instance, it is then possible for two files in the one apparent filesystem to have the same inode number.
The nohide option is currently only effective on single host exports. It does not work reliably with netgroup, subnet, or wildcard exports.
This option can be very useful in some situations, but it should be used with due care, and only after confirming that the client system copes with the situation effectively.
The option can be explicitly disabled with hide. |