To reshare an NFS mount as an AFP share point:
1. From the NFS server, export the directories you want to reshare to the Mac OS X server. Since AFP runs as root, the NFS export must map root-to-root so that AFP will be able to access the files for the clients. Restrict the export to the single AFP server (seen as a client to the NFS server). As NFS is not a secure connection, this can be made even more secure by having a private network for the connection from the NFS Server to the AFP Server.
Note: If you do not map root-to-root when attempting to save privileges in WorkGroup Manager you will see an "Unable to save changes" message when trying to share the item.
2. On the AFP server, create a folder in the root level of the startup disk named "nfs_reshares". Mount any exports that you wish to share as folders inside this folder. For information about mounting nfs exports, see the manual page for the mount command by executing "man mount" in Terminal. The advanced section below describes a method for automatically mounting NFS exports.
3. Use the Sharing module in Workgroup Manager to share the NFS mounts as AFP share points. The NFS mounts appear as normal volumes in the All list. (Though it is also possible to share the NFS mounts using SMB and FTP, only AFP has been fully tested and qualified.) You can change privileges and ownership but cannot enable quotas (quotas work only on local volumes). However, if quotas are enabled on the NFS server, they should apply to the reshared volume as well.
4. Stop the File Server and restart it. The export should be available.
Many users will wish to have exports appear automatically on when they restart their computers. There are third-party utilities that are available to configure this, or you can follow the instructions below to manually edit NetInfo
Advanced
You can set up the server to mount exports at startup by manually editing NetInfo's /mounts property.
Be sure to edit the local NetInfo database. Setting these properties and values as such:
property - value
vfstype nfs
dir /nfs_reshares/mountpoint
name server:/full/path/to/exported_directory
opts <any mount options>
To do this follow these steps:
1. Open NetInfo Manager (/Applications/Utilities).
2. Click the lock button in the lower left corner.
3. Select the mounts item in the center column.
4. Choose New Subdirectory from the Directory menu.
5. In the new property enter 'vfstype' for the property, and 'nfs' for the value.
6. Choose New Property from the Directory menu.
7. In the new property enter 'dir' for the property, and the path to your mount, which will be a folder in "/nfs_reshares/".
8. Choose New Property from the Directory menu.
9. In the new property enter 'name' for the property, and the server and path in this format:
server:/full/path/to/exported_directory
10. Choose New Property from the Directory menu.
11. In the new property enter 'opts' for the property, and enter any options you want for the mount. "-s" will allow for a soft mount, and so forth. If you are unfamiliar with mount options, see the man page by typing 'man mount' in Terminal.
Note: The NFS exports should be available after the server is restarted. Setting up NFS exports to automatically mount is not covered by AppleCare's free technical support.