nfs mount on sub directory

Question

I'd like to mount two nfs folder on local linux machine (nfs4)

Is it okay to mount as following? (note 2nd mount point is overlapped with the 1st mount)

# /etc/fstab
svr1:/folder1 /mnt nfs ...
svr2:/folder2 /mnt/share nfs ...

Mount points are created on local disk before mounting(/mnt, /mnt/share)

It looks okay when I tried, but I'like to know if there might be problems later. Do I have to take care in the order of mount?

EDIT: My mistake.

local:/mnt/share has been hidden by mounting svr1:/folder1 on /mnt.

svr2:/folder2 has been mounted on /mnt/share which is actually svr1:/folder1/share.

As long as svr1:/folder1/share is empty, is this setup good enough? Or it will bring mess someday?

I can assure svr1:/folder1/share won't be created. My concern is /mnt is not empty while mounting svr1:/folder1. The goal is to maintain compatibility. /folder1/share has become too large for the disk, hence separated to another disk of different server. — auditory, Feb 7, 2022 at 8:47
If /mnt is not empty before the NFS mount, the contents will be hidden. This includes the directory /mnt/share which will need to exist on svr1:/folder1. — doneal24, Feb 7, 2022 at 13:14
@doneal24 that is exactly what I concerned. And you are right. local:/mnt/share is hidden by mount svr:/folder1 on /mnt and actually svr2:/folder2 was mounted on /mnt/share which is actually svr:/folder1/share (that is empty). Is this setup okay then? — auditory, Feb 7, 2022 at 13:29
This setup should work. You might consider @pLumo's suggestion about not using /mnt directly as this might simply expanding things in the future. — doneal24, Feb 7, 2022 at 13:52

pLumo · Accepted Answer · 2022-02-07 08:53:11Z

1

Having mountpoints below other mountpoints is just the normal setup. Compare / is also just a mountpoint with /mnt below.

If you created srv1:/folder1/share and have files inside, you will have issues mounting srv2:/folder2 (moint point not empty).

I would put my mountpoints below /mnt and not use /mnt, but technically speaking it it is not a problem.

answered Feb 7, 2022 at 8:53

pLumo

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The reason not using /mnt is /mnt is the top most dir or /mnt is general mount point? I am using different name, say /svr instead of /mnt and /mnt was just an example. Thank you for the answer.
– auditory
Feb 8, 2022 at 0:26
/mnt is not a mountpoint. It's the dir to have the mountpoints below. What if you have multiple mountpoints, what is /mnt, where do you put the others ? For me, that would make a strange hierarchy.
– pLumo
Feb 8, 2022 at 7:23

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