Understanding the Client for NFS component
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2
Client for NFS gives a Windows-based computer the ability to act as a client to a Network File System (NFS) server. With Client for NFS, you can access files in a mixed environment of computers, operating systems, and networks.
Accessing files on NFS servers requires each Windows user to also have a UNIX-style identity. To enable users to access NFS shared resources using Client for NFS, you can include UNIX-style identity attributes in Active Directory.
Windows Server 2003 R2 domain controllers include the appropriate UNIX-style identity attributes from Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 2307 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=70027) in the Active Directory schema. They also include Identity Management for UNIX, an optional component, which facilitates managing UNIX-style identities in Active Directory.
In addition to retrieving UNIX-style identity data from Active Directory, Client for NFS can retrieve UNIX-style identity data from a User Name Mapping server. User Name Mapping is an optional component in Windows Server 2003 R2, Server Appliance Kit, and Services for UNIX, and it may already be available on your network. We do not recommend using User Name Mapping for new Client for NFS deployments.
Once Client for NFS is installed and configured, you can access files on the NFS server by mounting those files to your computer using either the UNIX server:/export format or the Windows \\server\share format. You can also browse shared folders by using the \\server\share format in Windows Explorer.