Appendix A. ONC3/NFS Error Messages

This chapter explains error messages generated by the components of ONC3/NFS. It contains these sections:

mount Error Messages

This section gives detailed descriptions of the NFS mounting failures that generate error messages.

/etc/fstab: No such file or directory  


mount tried to look up the name in /etc/fstab but there was no /etc/fstab.

/etc/mtab: No such file or directory  


The mounted file system table is kept in the file /etc/mtab. This file must exist before mount(1M) can succeed.

mount: ... already mounted  


The file system that you are trying to mount is already mounted or there is an incorrect entry for it in /etc/mtab.

mount: ... Block device required  


You probably left off the host name (krypton:) portion of your entry:

mount krypton:/usr/src /krypton.src

The mount command assumes you are doing a local mount unless it sees a colon in the file system name or the file system type is nfs in /etc/fstab. See fstab(4).

mount: ... not found in /etc/fstab  


If you use mount with only a directory or file system name, but not both, it looks in /etc/fstab for an entry with file system or directory field matching the argument. For example,

mount /krypton.src

searches /etc/fstab for a line that has a directory name field of /krypton.src. If it finds an entry, such as this,

krypton:/usr/src /krypton.src nfs rw,hard 0 0

it mounts as if you had given this command:

mount krypton:/usr/src /krypton.src

If you see this message, it means the argument you gave mount is not in any of the entries in /etc/fstab.

mount: ... not in hosts database  


The host name you gave is not in the /etc/hosts database. Check the spelling and the placement of the colon in your mount call. Try to rlogin or rcp to the other system.

mount: directory path must begin with a slash (/).  


The second argument to mount is the path of the directory to be mounted. This must be an absolute path starting at /.

mount: ... server not responding: RPC: Port mapper failure  


Either the server from which you are trying to mount is inactive, or its portmap daemon is inactive or hung. Try logging in to that system. If you can log in, give this command:

/usr/etc/rpcinfo –p hostname

This should produce a list of registered program numbers. If it does not, start the portmap daemon again. Note that starting the portmap daemon again requires that you kill and restart inetd, ypbind, and ypserv. ypbind is active only if you are using the NIS service. The ypserv daemon only runs on NIS servers. See network(1M) for information about how to stop and restart daemons.

For dealing with a server that is inactive or whose portmap daemon is not responding, you should reboot the server.

If you cannot rlogin to the server, but the server is operational, check your network connection by trying rlogin to some other system. Also check the server's network connection.

mount: ... server not responding: RPC: Program not registered  


This means mount reached the portmap daemon but the NFS mount daemon (see mountd(1M)) was not registered.

Go to the server and be sure that /usr/etc/rpc.mountd exists and that an entry appears in /etc/inetd.conf exactly like this (shown wrapped):

mountd/1 dgram rpc/udp wait root
/usr/etc/rpc.mountd mountd

Give the command ps –de to be sure that the internet daemon (inetd) is running. If you had to change /etc/inetd.conf, give this command:

/etc/killall 1 inetd

This command informs inetd that you have changed /etc/inetd.conf.

mount: ... No such file or directory 


Either the remote directory or the local directory does not exist. Check your spelling. Use the ls command for the local and remote directories. For SGI systems, check to see if you are attempting to access a hidden file or directory:

showmount -x servername

and check for file systems exported without the nohide option.

mount: not in export list for ...  


Your host name is not in the export list for the file system you want to mount from the server. You can get a list of the server's exported file systems with this command:

showmount –e servername

If the file system you want is not in the list, or your host name or network group name is not in the user list for the file system, log in to the server and check the /etc/exports file for the correct file system entry. A file system name that appears in the /etc/exports file but not in the output from showmount indicates that you need to run exportfs.

mount: ... Permission denied  


This message is a generic indication that some authentication failed on the server. It could simply be that you are not in the export list (see previous message), the server could not figure out who you are, or the server does not recognize that you are who you say you are. Check the server's /etc/exports. In the last case, check the consistency of the NIS and local host name and user ID information.

mount: ... Not a directory  


Either the remote path or the local path is not a directory. Check your spelling and use the ls command for both the local and remote directories.

mount: ... You must be root to use mount  


You must do the mount as root on your system because it affects the file system for the whole system, not just your directories.

Verbose automount and autofs Error Messages

The following error messages are likely to be displayed if automount or autofs fails and the verbose option is on (–v option). Below each error message is a description of the probable cause of the problem.

bad directory directory in direct map mapname  


While scanning a direct map, the automatic mounter has found an entry directory without a leading “/”. Directories in direct maps must be full pathnames.

bad directory directory in indirect map mapname  


While scanning an indirect map, the automatic mounter has found an entry directory containing a “/”. Indirect map directories must be simple names, not pathnames.

can't mount server:pathname: reason  


The mount daemon on the server refuses to provide a file handle for server:pathname. Check the server's export list.

Couldn't create mountpoint mountpoint: reason  


The automatic mounter was unable to create a mount point required for a mount. This most frequently occurs when attempting to hierarchically mount all of a server's exported file systems. A required mount point may exist only in a file system that cannot be mounted (it may not be exported) and it cannot be created because the exported parent file system is exported read only.

leading space in map entry entry text in mapname  


The automatic mounter has discovered an entry in an automatic mounter map that contains leading spaces. This is usually an indication of an improperly continued map entry. For example:

foo
bar geez:/usr/geez

In this example, the warning is generated when the automatic mounter encounters the second line, because the first line should be terminated with a backslash (\).

mapname: Not found  


The required map cannot be located. This message is produced only when the –v option is given. Check the spelling and pathname of the map name.

NIS bind failed 


The automatic mounter was unable to communicate with the ypbind daemon. This is information only—the automatic mounter continues to function correctly provided it requires no explicit NIS support. If you need NIS, check to see if there is a ypbind daemon running.

no mount maps specified  


The automatic mounter was invoked with no maps to serve (or no auto_master file for autofs), and it cannot find the NIS auto.master map. Recheck the command, and check for the existence of an NIS auto.master map:

ypwhich -m | grep auto.master

remount server:pathname on mountpoint: server not responding  


The automatic mounter has failed to remount a file system it previously unmounted. This message may appear at intervals until the file system is successfully remounted.

server:pathname already mounted on mountpoint  


The automatic mounter is attempting to mount over a previous mount of the same file system. This could happen if an entry appears both in /etc/fstab and in an automatic mounter map (either by accident or because the output of mount -p was redirected to /etc/fstab). Delete one of the redundant entries.

WARNING: mountpoint already mounted on  


The automatic mounter is attempting to mount over an existing mount point. This is indicative of an automatic mounter internal error (bug).

WARNING: mountpoint not empty  


The mount point is not an empty directory. The directory contains entries that are hidden while the automatic mounter is mounted there. This is advisory only.

General automount and autofs Error Messages

This section lists error messages generated by automount and autofs that can occur at any time.

autofs Only Error Messages

hostname: NOTICE: [autofs]: a request to mount directory directory failed 


autofs has received a request to perform a bad mount. You will get this error only if the autofs systune variable autofs_logging=ON is set.

automount Only Error Messages

exiting  

This is an advisory message only. The automounter has received a SIGTERM (has been killed) and is exiting.

NFS server (pid@mountpoint) not responding; still trying  


An NFS request made to the automount daemon with process identifier pid serving mountpoint has timed out. The automounter may be temporarily overloaded or dead. Wait a few minutes. If the condition persists, reboot the client or use fuser to find and kill all processes that use automounted directories (or change to a non-automounted directory in the case of a shell), kill the current automount process, and restart it again from the command line.

autofs and automount Error Messages

bad entry in map mapname "directory" map mapname, directory directory: bad  


The map entry is malformed, and the automatic mounter cannot interpret it. Recheck the entry; perhaps there are characters in it that need a special escape sequence.

Can't get my address  


The automatic mounter cannot find an entry for the local system in the host database.

Cannot create UDP service 


The automatic mounter cannot establish a UDP connection.

Can't mount mountpoint: reason  


The automatic mounter couldn't mount its daemon at mountpoint.

Can't update pathname  


Where pathname is /etc/mtab (automount) it means that the automounter was not able to update the mount table. Check the permissions of the file.

couldn't create pathname: reason  


Where pathname is /tmp_mnt (automount) or the argument to the –M command line option.

dir mountpoint must start with '/'  


The automatic mounter mount point must be given as full pathname. Check the spelling and pathname of the mount point.

hierarchical mountpoints: pathname1 and pathname2  


The automatic mounter does not allow its mount points to have a hierarchical relationship. An automounter mount point must not be contained within another automounted file system.

host server not responding  


The automatic mounter attempted to contact server but received no response.

hostname: exports: rpc_err  


Error getting export list from hostname. This indicates a server or network problem.

mapname: yp_err  


Error in looking up an entry in an NIS map. May indicate NIS problems.

Mount of server:pathname on mountpoint: reason  


The automatic mounter failed to do a mount. This may indicate a server or network problem.

mountpoint: Not a directory  


The automatic mounter cannot mount itself on mountpoint because mountpoint is not a directory. Check the spelling and pathname of the mount point.

nfscast: cannot send packet: reason  


The automatic mounter cannot send a query packet to a server in a list of replicated file system locations.

nfscast: cannot receive reply: reason  


The automatic mounter cannot receive replies from any of the servers in a list of replicated file system locations.

nfscast:select: reason Cannot create socket for nfs: rpc_err  


These error messages indicate problems attempting to contact servers for a replicated file system. This may indicate a network problem.

option ignored for directory in mapname  


The automatic mounter has detected an unknown mount option. This is advisory only. Correct the entry in the appropriate map.

pathconf: server: server not responding 


The automatic mounter is unable to contact the mount daemon on the server that provides portable operating systems based on UNIX (POSIX) pathconf information.

pathconf: no info for server:pathname  


The automatic mounter failed to get pathconf information for pathname.

server:pathnamelinkname : dangerous symbolic link  


The automatic mounter is trying to use server:pathname as a mount point but it is a symbolic link that resolves to a pathname referencing a mount point outside of /tmp_mnt ((automount) or the mount point set with the –M option). The automatic mounter refuses to do this mount because it could cause problems in the system's file system (for example, mounting on /usr rather than in /tmp_mnt).

server:pathname no longer mounted  


The automatic mounter is acknowledging that server:pathname, which it mounted earlier, has been unmounted by the umount command. The automounter notices this within 1 minute of the unmount or immediately, if it receives a SIGHUP (automount).

svc_register failed  


The automatic mounter cannot register itself as an NFS server. Check the kernel configuration file.

trymany: servers not responding: reason 


No server in a replicated list is responding. This may indicate a network problem.

WARNING: default option "option" ignored for map mapname  


Where option is an unrecognized default mount option for the map mapname.

WARNING: pathname: line line_number: bad entry  


Where pathname is /etc/mtab (automount) it means that the automounter has detected a malformed entry in the /etc/mtab file.

General CacheFS Errors

This section describes the error messages that may be generated from commands used to administer the CacheFS file system.

cfsadmin Error Messages

This section gives detailed descriptions of the CacheFS cfsadmin command failures that generate error messages.

cfsadmin: Cache name is in use and cannot be modified. 


This error occurs when you attempt to remove a cache ID from the cache name, if the cache is active (has mounted file systems).

cfsadmin: cachepath already exists.  


The cache directory path cachepath specified with the cachedir option already exists. The last component of the path cachepath must not exist when creating a cache. All other path components must exist.

cfsadmin: Cache cachedir is in use and cannot be modified. 


The cache cachedir was in use when an attempt was made to modify the contents of the cache label. This operation may only be performed when the cache has no mounted file systems.

cfsadmin: Cache size cannot be reduced,maxblocks current p%, requested n% 


An attempt was made to reduce the maximum file system block allocation percentage from p% to n%. The allocation can only be increased.

cfsadmin: Cache size cannot be reduced, maxfiles current p% requested n% 


An attempt was made to reduce the maximum number of files allocated from p% to n%. The allocation can only be increased.

cfsadmin: cacheid is not a valid cache id. 


The cache identifier given by cacheid is not valid. You may have specified an invalid cache identifier on the command line for cfsadmin. This can occur when deleting a cache.

cfsadmin: Could not open option file optpath 


The cache option file optpath could not be opened. The entire cache should be removed and reconstructed.

cfsadmin: Could not open resource: errmsg, run fsck 


The resource file resource could not be opened in order to enlarge it or mark it as dirty. The error is given in errmsg. Run fsck.

cfsadmin: Could not read option file optpath 


The cache option file optpath could not be read. The entire cache should be removed and reconstructed.

cfsadmin: Could not read cache_usage, val, run fsck 


The cache usage structure could not be read from the resource file. val is the return value from read.

cfsadmin: Could not write cache_usage, val, run fsck 


The cache usage structure could not be written to the resource file. val is the return value from write.

cfsadmin: Could not write file, val, run fsck 


The expanded resource file could not be initialized. val is the return value from write.

cfsadmin: create resource failed: errmsg 


The cache resource file resource could not be created. The system error is given in errmsg.

cfsadmin: creating labelpath failed.  


The cache label file labelpath could not be created. This message always appears with one of the following:

Could not remove labelpath: errmsg
Error creating labelpath: errmsg
Writing labelpath failed: errmsg
Writing labelpath failed on sync: errmsg

In each case, the system error is given in errmsg.

cfsadmin: lowblocks can't be >= hiblocks. 


The block allocation specified by minblocks is greater than or equal to that specified by maxblocks. minblocks must be less than maxblocks.

cfsadmin: lowfiles can't be >= hifiles.  


The file allocation specified by minfiles is greater than or equal to that specified by maxfiles. minfiles must be less than maxfiles.

cfsadmin: must be run by root  


You must be logged in as root to run cfsadmin.

cfsadmin: Reading cachelabel failed. 


The cache label file cachelabel could not be read. This message appears with one of the following messages:

Cannot stat file cachelabel: errmsg
File cachelabel does not exist.
Cache label file cachelabel corrupted
Cache label file cachelabel wrong size
Error opening cachelabel: errmsg
Reading cachelabel failed: errmsg

The above messages occur when the cache label file is not a regular file or the label contains the incorrect cache version. The system error is given in errmsg.

cfsadmin: Resource file has wrong size cursize expected, run fsck 


The size of the resource file is incorrect. Its size is cursize when it should be expected.

mount_cachefs Error Messages

This section gives detailed descriptions of the CacheFS mounting failures that generate error messages.

mount_cachefs is normally executed from mount.

mount_cachefs: acregmin cannot be greater than acregmax 


The specified acregmin option has a value greater than that for acregmax.

mount_cachefs: acdirmin cannot be greater than acdirmax 


The specified acdirmin option has a value greater than that for acdirmax.

mount_cachefs: mount failed, options do not match. 


The mount options supplied on the mount command are not compatible with the mount options currently set for the cache. This occurs when there are multiple mount points for one cache. All mount points must have the same options.

mount_cachefs: must be run by root 


You must be logged in as root to run mount.

mount_cachefs: only one of non-shared or write-around may be specified 


Both of the options non-shared and write-around have been specified. Only one is allowed.

mount_cachefs: rw and ro are mutually exclusive 


Both of the options rw and ro have been specified. Only one is allowed.

mount_cachefs: suid and nosuid are mutually exclusive 


Both of the options suid and nosuid have been specified. Only one is allowed.

umount_cachefs Error Messages

This section gives detailed descriptions of the CacheFS unmounting failures that generate error messages.

umount_cachefs is normally executed from umount.

umount_cachefs: could not exec /sbin/umount on back file system errmsg 


An attempt was made to run umount on the back file system and failed. The system error is given in errmsg.

umount_cachefs: must be run by root  


You must be logged in as root to run umount.

umount_cachefs: warning: dir not in mtab  


The mount point directory dir has no entry in the mount table. This means that the mount table has been corrupted. The umount command can still be successful; however, the back file system can not be unmounted.