Personal Computer Network File System Daemon (PCNFSD)

ID: Q233288

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 4.0 SP3, 4.0 SP4, used with:
- Microsoft Windows NT Services for UNIX Add-On Pack

SUMMARY

The personal computer network file system daemon (PCNFSD) service is accepted by the X/Open committee as a semi-standard for (PC)NFS. (PC)NFS refers to all NFS systems running on a personal computer. Windows NT Services for UNIX provides (PC)NFS capabilities for Windows NT as well as the PCNFSD service.

The PCNFSD service authenticates and provides printing services to clients and it services remote procedure call (RPC) requests directed at program number 150001.

MORE INFORMATION

NFS is not aware of user names or passwords; it uses numbers to identify users. You can use the PCNFSD service to map user names and passwords to the numeric IDs required by NFS.

When you log on to your (PC)NFS client, the client sends your user name and password in clear text to the configured PCNFSD server. The PCNFSD service verifies the credentials and returns the user's numeric IDs and some additional information. When the (PC)NFS client uses its NFS client software to mount an export, the NFS client provides these numeric IDs to the NFS server for authentication.

By default, some PCNFSD servers do not accept system accounts credentials (for example, user IDs less than 100). Check the PCNFSD Manage or Configuration files for additional information.

Although (PC)NFS printing is not supported in Services for UNIX, it is briefly discussed here. The (PC)NFS client sends a print request command to the PCNFSD server. The server responds back with a spool directory to deposit files to be printed. The (PC)NFS client mounts this export and deposits files that it wants printed on the server. The (PC)NFS client then sends a print start command to the PCNFSD server to print the files.

How to Verify that the PCNFSD Service Is Working

To verify that the PCNFSD service is working, type the following command

rpcinfo -p pcnfsd_server

where pcnfsd_server is the IP address or host name of your PCNFSD server. This command works on Services for UNIX and all recent UNIX operating systems.

You should receive output similar to the following example:


program vers proto port service

150001  1    udp   1040  pcnfsd
150001  2    udp   1040  pcnfsd

The output indicates that there is an RPC program (program number 150001) listening to User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port 1040 that accepts either PCNFSD protocol version. The port is variable, the protocols may include TCP, and the version numbers accepted may differ, depending on the operating system of server.

Additional query words:

Keywords :
Version : winnt:4.0 SP3,4.0 SP4
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo