Mount folder with cifs share with nfs on another server

Question

I have the following scenario:

I have a folder /bla/ on a server which mounts a windows samba share into it. Now I want to mount this folder /bla/ on another server with nfs.

That should look like:

Server A: /bla/FoldersFromSambeShare

Server B: /mnt/bla(FromServerA)/FoldersFromSambeShare(MountedOnServerA)

I mounted the /bla/ folder on server A but I don't see the samba folders. I tried it with the nohide option in /etc/exports but I still don't see them.

Has anyone any advice for me?

Answer 1

NFS will not "forward" mounts. If the real file system is on systemW, you can have a remote mount systemW -> (cifs) systemA, and if systemW has an NFS implementation (either not Windows, or Windows with add-on software), you can also have a remote mount systemW -> (nfs) systemB. However, as you've noted, trying to mount systemA -> (nfs) systemB gives you the (probably empty) directory from systemA upon which systemA has something else mounted. Your idea to have systemW -> (cifs) systemA -> (nfs) systemB cannot work, at least with NFS. There are some other options if you really need to chain remote mounts (like sshfs and some other FUSE-based file system types).