How to Configure Synology Shares with NFS

Recently I helped a buddy configure their new Synology shares to be accessible across their network and since it had been a little while, it's helpful to me (and hopefully others) to document that process here.

Network File System (NFS) is a powerful protocol for distributed file sharing. If you're looking to share large files between multiple operating systems, NFS can make life easier. Paired with Synology's rock solid availability, they make for a powerful combination in file management. In this post, we'll walk through the steps to set up an NFS share that works with most data-intensive applications in an os-agnostic environment.

We'll start by setting up NFS on a Synology system, and then move on to a Linux machine to configure the NFS share. You'll need to know the IP addresses of both your Synology and Linux machines, which are best set up with internal static IPs.

Steps

1. Enable the NFS file service on your Synology (if it's not already enabled)

2. Go to the file share settings on your Synology and configure the NFS settings using the IP address of your accessing system (and make a note of the Mount path displayed on this screen, which we'll need later)

3. Create a folder on the Linux system for each share - I keep mine in ~/Media/[TheShareName]/

4. Still on the Linux machine, edit the /etc/fstab file to configure the NFS share

   • sudo nano /etc/fstab to edit the file systems table
   • Create a new line for each NFS share, in this shape:

   # [ip.ad.dr.ess]:[mount/path]    /path/to/loca/access/point    nfs    defaults    0    0
   192.XXX.XX.X:/volume1/TheShare    /home/username/Media/TheShare    nfs    defaults    0    0

5. Run sudo mount -a to apply changes made to the /etc/fstab file

   • If there are issues at this point, check the permissions of the folder created in step #3

6. Open up file explorer to validate files are accessible and you're able to read / write across the network

7. On each subsequent reboot (if the Synology is online) the Linux machine will have the NFS share accessible from the file explorer 🎉

With these simple steps, you'll have an NFS share that you can use to work with network files, regardless of the client operating system. Whether you're sharing large files between multiple operating systems or collaborating with a team, NFS can help you get the job done efficiently and effectively.