Unable to see all the files using gateway for NFS

I was once working on a scenario where we were unable to see all the files on NFS share using gateway for NFS. We were using Windows 2003 with Services for Unix 3.5 as client and NFS share was created on Solaris box. From the network trace we can conclude that this issue is either because of Solaris server or network / firewall problem. Windows client issues a ReadDirPlus NFS call but it never gets replied. As a result we cannot see file listing from Windows box. Below is the snapshot from network trace and we can see that this is no reply of READDIRPLUS call.

 

 

 

We test this behavior by using a different Solaris server. We researched on the problem and found this issue may get resolved if we use NFS version 2. By default, Windows uses NFS version 3. We perform the following steps:

           Disable NFS V3 from registry:

· First delete all the existing shares using “gwshare delete <drive name> ”

· Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

· Locate the following registry key:

· HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Client for NFS\CurrentVersion\Default

· On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:

Value Name: DisableV3

Data Type: REG_DWORD

Value: 1

· Quit Registry Editor.

· Restart “Gateway for NFS” service”

The reason for performing the steps above was that NFS version 2 does not uses the NFS call “READDIRPLUS”. Hence switching to NFS v2 resolves the issue. However there will be some performance lag upon using NFS version 2.