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How to Open an NFS Share on iPhone and iPad

Connect Fileso to an NFS export with a server address, export path, version and UID/GID settings.

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Fileso supports NFS remote sources, allowing an iPhone or iPad to browse a server export. This can be useful for a Linux file server or NAS that already shares a media or document directory through NFS. You need access to the network and permission to use the export.

Understand the export path

An NFS export is a directory the server has explicitly made available. Its path is not necessarily the same as an SMB share name or the folder label in a NAS dashboard. Ask the administrator for the exported path and the client restrictions applied to it.

NFS access can depend on the client’s network address and numeric user and group IDs. A username that works for another service does not automatically grant access through NFS.

Configure the source in Fileso

  1. Open Add Connection and select NFS.
  2. Enter the server in Address and check Port against the server configuration.
  3. Set Export Path, or use the export picker when the server allows export discovery.
  4. Choose Auto, NFSv4, or NFSv3 as appropriate for the server.
  5. Enter UID and GID when the export requires specific numeric identities.
  6. Set Mountd Port only when your server configuration requires it.
  7. Save and try opening a small file inside the export.

An empty export path can be used to browse available exports where discovery is supported. It does not mean the entire server filesystem is available.

Diagnose permission problems

If the connection reaches the server but a folder cannot be opened, review the export’s allowed clients and directory permissions. For failed writes, check whether the export is read-only and whether the numeric identity maps to a user with write access.

Changing versions may help when the server supports only a particular NFS version. It does not override server permissions or repair an incorrect export path.

Download only what you need

A remote NFS listing is not an offline library. Save a local copy of files needed while traveling, and open those copies before disconnecting. For photo backup, configure a concrete export path first; the export-discovery level is not a destination where Fileso can create a backup folder.

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