netfs Linux Service

netfs service:

Mounts and unmounts Network Fils System (NFS), Windows (SMB), and Netware (NCP) file systems.
Now lets see the manual of netfs service.
Manual netfs:
NAME
netfs -- network configuration through the file system
SYNOPSIS
to mount netfs:
mount_netfs /netfs mount_point,
use with file system commands:
ls, mkdir, rmdir, cat, chmod, chown
DESCRIPTION
The netfs is an interface similar to procfs, for network configuration using commands of the file system. It provides a unified API that simplifies the setup and control of the network. The existing network elements, such as interfaces and routes, are mapped to directories and descriptive files. The standard network commands such as route and ifconfig can be reimplemented in order to use file operations instead of socket operations to achieve configuration objectives.
The netfs is implemented as a loadable kernel module for portability and flexibility. It is normally mounted on /netfs, as a standard file system.
The netfs creates two directories. The ifaces that contains all the existing network interfaces and the routes that includes all the available routes. These elements are represented as subdirectories and their parameters as descriptive files. Specifically netfs contains:
ifaces The existing interfaces in the system
Each interface is mapped to a subdirectory with a name followed by a number that represents its id:
em, xl the ethernet interfaces.
fwe ethernet emulation driver for FireWire (IEEE1394).
lo the software loopback network interface.
plip the printer port Internet Protocol Driver.
routes The existing routes in the system
Each route is mapped to a subdirectory with a descriptive name:
gateway
the default router of the network.
[NetworkAddressOfRoute]/[NumberOfNetworkBits]
IP address of the subnet/prefix bits.
[NetworkAddressOfLoopback]
IP address of the loopback.
Commands
Using the network interfaces and routes as directories the user can easily create or remove them, can view information and can set permissions or owenerships on them. This is done by using the standard file system commands. The syntax and the parameters are the same.
The commonly used commands include:
mkdir to set an IP address and to create gif or lo interfaces.
rmdir to remove any interface. Ethernet interfaces cannot be re-created using mkdir. Removing them may result in dis-connecting the system from the network.
ls to display the contents of a directory which can be network elements, routes or their attributes.
cat to read information from a router or an interface.
chmod to change the permissions on a route or interface.
chown to change the ownership of an interface.
Further information and the most recent software and documentation can be obtained from http://www.isi.edu/netfs
FILES
/netfs normal mount point for the netfs.
/netfs/ifaces directory containing configuration information for network interfaces
/netfs/routes directory containing configuration information for the available routes
/netfs/ifaces/IP4addresses the IP address of the specific interface
/netfs/routes/gateway file with the IP address of the default router
EXAMPLES
After the system boots the user first mounts netfs. The normal mount point is /netfs:
mount_netfs /netfs netfs
Once netfs is mounted the user can check all the available interfaces.
ls /netfs/ifaces
To check the IP address that has been assigned in the ethernet:
cat /netfs/ifaces/em00/IPv4address
To assign the following IP address to the em00 interface:
mkdir /netfs/ifaces/em00/192.168.2.10
To create a tunnel inteface:
mkdir /netfs/ifaces/gif01
To change the ownership of an interface:
chown <user< /netfs/iface/em01
The file system commands in netfs are used with their usual syntax and parameters.
SEE ALSO
mount(2), sigaction(2), unmount(2), mount_netfs(8), procfs(5)
AUTHORS
The NetFS group, consists of:
Joe Touch <touch@isi.edu>
Panagiotis Galiotos <galiotos@isi.edu>
and former group members, including:
Joshua Train <joshtrain@gmail.com>
BUGS
This man page may print an extra blank page when run under groff(1); there is apparently a bug in the .Fx macro in mdoc(7).
COPYING
See the copyright info. and disclaimers in the source code.
NetFS v1.0 Jul 11, 2005 NetFS v1.0