Mount NFS Azure file shares on Linux

✔️ Applies to: Classic NFS file shares created with the Microsoft.Storage resource provider

✔️ Applies to: File shares created with the Microsoft.FileShares resource provider

You can mount Azure file shares in Linux distributions by using either the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol or the Network File System (NFS) protocol. This article focuses on mounting with NFS. For details on mounting SMB file shares, see Use Azure Files with Linux. For details on the available protocols, see Azure file share protocols.

Prerequisite: Configure network security

You can access NFSv4.1 file shares (both classic file shares created with the Microsoft.Storage resource provider and file shares created with Microsoft.FileShares resource provider) only from trusted networks. Secure the data by using a virtual network and other network security settings. You can't use Microsoft Entra security and access control lists (ACLs) to authorize NFSv4.1 requests. To learn more about how to set up NFSv4.1 file shares, see how to create a file share and how to create a classic file share.

Mount an NFS Azure file share

You can mount the share by using the AZNFS mount helper in Azure portal, or you can use the native NFS mount commands in CLI. You can also create a record in the /etc/fstab file to automatically mount the share every time the Linux server or VM boots.

Use the nconnect Linux mount option to improve performance for NFS Azure file shares at scale. For more information, see Improve NFS Azure file share performance.

Default mount instructions

The mount instructions differ depending on whether you created the NFS file share using the Microsoft.Storage resource provider (classic file share) or the Microsoft.FileShares resource provider.

Classic NFS file share (Microsoft.Storage)

Follow these steps to mount a classic NFS file share.

1. After you create the file share, select the share and then select Connect from Linux.
2. Enter the mount path you'd like to use, and then copy the script and run it on your client. Azure portal offers a step-by-step, ready-to-use installation script tailored to your selected Linux distribution for installing the AZNFS mount helper package and to securely mount the share using Encryption in Transit. The script includes only the required mount options, but you can add other recommended mount options.

👁 Screenshot showing how to connect to an NFS file share from Linux using a provided mounting script.

Mount a classic NFS share by using the NFS client mount in command line

You can also mount the Azure file share by using NFS client mount in command line. Select the tab below for your Linux distribution to see the commands you need to run. Replace <YourStorageAccountName> and <FileShareName> with your information.

sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt-get install nfs-common

sudo mkdir -p /mount/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName>
sudo mount -t nfs <YourStorageAccountName>.file.core.windows.net:/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> /mount/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> -o vers=4,minorversion=1,sec=sys,nconnect=4

sudo yum update
sudo yum install nfs-utils

sudo mkdir -p /mount/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName>
sudo mount -t nfs <YourStorageAccountName>.file.core.windows.net:/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> /mount/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> -o vers=4,minorversion=1,sec=sys,nconnect=4

sudo zypper update
sudo zypper -n install nfs-client

sudo mkdir -p /mount/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName>
sudo mount -t nfs <YourStorageAccountName>.file.core.windows.net:/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> /mount/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> -o vers=4,minorversion=1,sec=sys,nconnect=4

NFS file share (Microsoft.FileShares)

Follow these steps to mount a file share created with the Microsoft.FileShares resource provider.

1. After you create the file share, select the share and then select Connect from Linux.

2. Enter the mount path you want to use, and then copy the script and run it on your client. The Azure portal offers a step-by-step, ready-to-use installation script tailored to your selected Linux distribution for installing the AZNFS mount helper package and to securely mount the share by using Encryption in Transit. If the file share requires encryption in transit, the mount script uses the Aznfs mount helper. If the feature require encryption in transit is off, toggle the Mount with encryption in transit checkbox to use different mount commands to mount the file share. The script includes only the required mount options, but you can add other recommended mount options.

   👁 image for mount mfs
   

Mount an NFS share using the NFS client mount in command line

You can also mount the file share using NFS client mount in command line. Select the tab below for your Linux distribution to see the commands you need to run. Replace <your-subscription-id>, <your-resource-group> and <your-file-share-name> with your information.

# Customize these placeholders:
# - `<your-subscription-id>` → Your Azure subscription ID.
# - `<your-resource-group>` → The resource group containing the file share.
# - `<your-file-share-name>` → The name of your file share.

# you will use $hostname later when mounting the file share.
hostName=$(az resource show \
 --ids "/subscriptions/<your-subscription-id>/resourceGroups/<your-resource-group>/providers/Microsoft.FileShares/fileShares/<your-file-share-name>" \
 --query "properties.hostName" \
 --output tsv)
echo $hostName

# you will use shortName later when mounting the file share.
prefix=$(echo "$hostName" | sed 's/\.file\.storage\.azure\.net.*//')
shortName=$(echo "$prefix" | sed 's/\.[^.]*$//')
echo $shortName

sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt-get install nfs-common
sudo mkdir -p /mount/<your-file-share-name>
sudo mount -t nfs $hostName:/$shortName/<your-file-share-name> /mount/<your-file-share-name> -o vers=4,minorversion=1,sec=sys

sudo yum update
sudo yum install nfs-utils
sudo mkdir -p /mount/<your-file-share-name>
sudo mount -t nfs $hostName:/$shortName/<your-file-share-name> /mount/<your-file-share-name> -o vers=4,minorversion=1,sec=sys

sudo zypper update
sudo zypper -n install nfs-client
sudo mkdir -p /mount/<your-file-share-name>
sudo mount -t nfs $hostName:/$shortName/<your-file-share-name> /mount/<your-file-share-name> -o vers=4,minorversion=1,sec=sys

Mount by using /etc/fstab

To automatically mount the NFS file share every time the Linux server or VM boots, create a record in the /etc/fstab file for your Azure file share. The record differs depending on whether you're using the AZNFS Mount Helper or the native NFS mount commands.

To check if the AZNFS Mount Helper package is installed on your client, run the following command:

systemctl is-active --quiet aznfswatchdog && echo -e "\nAZNFS Mount Helper is installed! \n"

If the package is installed, the message AZNFS Mount Helper is installed! appears.

For classic file share, replace <YourStorageAccountName> and <FileShareName> with your own values. For file share, replace hostName and shortName with the correct values. For more information, enter the command man fstab from the Linux command line.

Mount by using AZNFS Mount Helper with encryption in transit

If you're using the AZNFS Mount Helper and want to mount the share using encryption in transit, the record in /etc/fstab should look like this:

# For Microsoft.Storage file share, use:
<YourStorageAccountName>.file.core.windows.net:/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> /media/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> aznfs defaults,sec=sys,vers=4,minorversion=1,nolock,proto=tcp,nofail,_netdev   0 2

# For Microsoft.FileShares file share, use:
$hostName:/$shortName/<FileShareName> /media/$shortName/<FileShareName> aznfs defaults,sec=sys,vers=4,minorversion=1,nolock,proto=tcp,nofail,_netdev   0 2

Mount by using AZNFS Mount Helper without encryption in transit

If you're using the AZNFS Mount Helper but don't want to use encryption in transit, the record in /etc/fstab should look like this:

# For Microsoft.Storage file share, use:
<YourStorageAccountName>.file.core.windows.net:/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> /media/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> aznfs defaults,sec=sys,vers=4,minorversion=1,nolock,proto=tcp,nofail,_netdev,notls   0 2

# For Microsoft.FileShares file share, use:
$hostName:/$shortName/<FileShareName> /media/$shortName/<FileShareName> aznfs defaults,sec=sys,vers=4,minorversion=1,nolock,proto=tcp,nofail,_netdev,notls   0 2

Mount by using native mount command

If you're using the native NFS mount without AZNFS, the record in /etc/fstab should look like this:

# For Microsoft.Storage file share, use:
<YourStorageAccountName>.file.core.windows.net:/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> /media/<YourStorageAccountName>/<FileShareName> nfs vers=4,minorversion=1,_netdev,nofail,sec=sys 0 0

# For Microsoft.FileShares file share, use:
$hostName:/$shortName/<FileShareName> /media/$shortName/<FileShareName> nfs vers=4,minorversion=1,_netdev,nofail,sec=sys 0 0

Mount options

Use the following mount options when mounting NFS Azure file shares.

Validate connectivity

If your mount fails, it's possible that your private endpoint isn't set up correctly or isn't accessible. For details, see Verify connectivity.

NFS file share snapshots

You can take file share snapshots when using NFS Azure file shares. This capability allows you to roll back entire file systems or recover files that are accidentally deleted or corrupted. See Use share snapshots with Azure Files.

Next step

• If you experience any issues, see Troubleshoot NFS Azure file shares.