pfs_mountd daemon

[Lisa Sorbo]

while I was on vacation last week, a vendor came to update our version of some software. A colleague was here to assist him with logging on and technical issues. The vendor had instructions which included starting the pfs_mountd daemon (for some reason he thought he needed this to mount the cdrom). After some time passed (the update was not successfull), my colleague issued the umount on the cdrom.

I'm not familiar with pfs_mountd or the rpc - but they are both still showing in my process list
1) is this a problem?
2) how do I stop it/them?

Lisa
HP-UX B.11.0 U 9000/800

[Christine Hartman · Accepted solution]

pfs_mountd is used to mount CDs that were created in rockridge or iso9600 or other formats. Sometimes you will get a CD when mounted lists the files in all CAPS or with a ;## at the end of filename. The pfs daemons must be running in order to use pfs_mount and pfs_umount. See the man page for pfs_mount for more syntax info.

and having the daemons running isn't a big deal. You can kill them if you want...although next time you need to mount a CD that needs it you will need to restart those daemons before mounting it.

common usage: pfs_mount -x unix -t rrip -o ro /dev/cdrom /tmp_mnt

also note...that you need to unmount the pfs_mounted filesystem with pfs_umount...run pfs_umount -c to close any pfs filesystems that were already unmounted.

Hope this helps.

CH

[Paul F. Carlson]

Note that there is a patch to add rockridge extensions to mount_cdfs:

11.00 PHCO_26449
11.11 PHCO_25841

[Lisa Sorbo]

thanks for the info. I'd never heard of pfs_mount before.
so when I see these in my process list:
root 13861 1 0 Nov 22 ? 0:00 /usr/sbin/pfs_mountd
root 14446 1 0 Nov 22 ? 0:00 /usr/sbin/pfsd
root 14452 14446 0 Nov 22 ? 0:01 pfsd.rpc
root 13862 13861 0 Nov 22 ? 0:01 pfs_mountd.rpc

I can just kill 13861 and 14446
and the .rpc processes will go away as well - right?

Lisa

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Lisa:

The order in which you start a 'pfs_mount' process is stictly reversed when you unmount.

First, make sure that you *only* use 'pfs_umount'. Do *not* use the standard 'umount' command. Remember to 'cd' "out" of the mounted directory first.

Next, kill the 'pfsd' daemon, and *then* lastly, the 'pfs_mountd' daemon.

Failure to observe this order can lead to a "hung" system, most notably one where queries of filesystems and directories "hang" and processor utilization climbs and climbs, leading to a reboot to ressurrect an unresponsive system.

I *strongly urge* you to download and install (which will require a reboot) the necessary patches to mount RockRidge formatted CDs natively.

Once installed, you simply do:

# /usr/sbin/mount -F cdfs -e -o ro,rr /dev/dsk/cXtYdZ

For 11.0 you will need patches:

PHKL_28060
PHKL_26450
PHCO_26449

The installation and reboot required will save endless headaches!

Regards!

...JRF...

[Lisa Sorbo]

I have a vague recollection of problems when software installed originally - hanging commands against the cdrom & climbing CPU - I think that time they removed the CD from the drive w/out unmounting it first - and then couldn't unmount w/out a CD in the drive - but I wasn't "in the loop" for that event and its resolution.

I will take your words to heart about the patches - though it isn't likely to be completed before the vendor returns to "try again" as I can't get a reboot scheduled in that timeframe.

thanks again for the information.