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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Temporary NFS mount keep being mounted while server is powered off

I was doing some performance testing using different file protocols (NFS, SMB mainly).


The last test was with NFS, I mounted on the command line the nfs exported directory, did my test, forgot about the moment and shutdown the NFS server. Since then OS X is bugging me every 2 minutes with a popup (which has the focus!) which states "There was a problem connecting to the server 192.168.1.250". The mount is not visible via 'df' so I decided to reboot the machine... But even after rebooting it, the popup keep on poping up!


User uploaded file


The setup was: OS X 10.8 as NFS client; FreeBSD 9.1 as NFS server (in a virtual machine hosted by a Linux machine on the same network). The command was:


mount -t nfs 192.168.1.250:/mnt/test ~/mnt/


I restarted the FreeBSD VM, suddenly the NFS export was mounted, this time as /Volumes/test. I unmounted it this time using:


sudo umount /Volumes/test


It did work successfully. I shutdown and deleted my VM, and some hours later the popup reappeared!!


How to get rid of it? Or more explicitely where is the configuration file where the mount is still explicitely present?

(it is not in /etc/fstab, nor /etc/auto_master) I did a huge grep using the IP address on the disk, and I got only log errors in /var/log.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 12, 2013 8:59 AM

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39 replies
User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 13, 2013 5:41 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you Linc. My problem is that I have rebooted already twice my Mac, but it keep on trying to mount the NFS share!

I am just trying to figure out where is setup this permanent mount or which process performs and maintains the mount.


I did it manually so I could try several mount options, like NFSv4, tcp or udp, etc. Options which are not available from the Finder. Although they might via autofs, but I don't know that beast yet.

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 13, 2013 9:31 AM in response to Linc Davis

I am pretty savvy when it comes to Linux/Unix, so I would also not expect 'mount' to do anything permanent. So I am quite as puzzled as you are.

But still every time I reboot, I get the error dialog box.


I have recreated a VM with the same IP and the same export path for NFS. OS X mounts it then automatically as /Volumes/test. If I unmount it and restart, it is again mounted!!!


I did clean the Recent Items menu in the "Apple" menu and in the "Connect to server..." menu, to no help. I also rebooted OS X explicitely telling it not to reopen applications (this kind of pseudo-resume integrated since OS X Lion), but I still have the problem.

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,547 points

Feb 13, 2013 3:14 PM in response to Huygens-25

Please read this whole message before doing anything.


This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.


Step 1


The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.


Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. For instructions, launch the System Preferences application, select Help from the menu bar, and enter “Set up guest users” (without the quotes) in the search box. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”


While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.


Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?


After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.


*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.


Step 2


The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login.


Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:


  • Shut down your computer, wait 30 seconds, and then hold down the shift key while pressing the power button.
  • When you see the gray Apple logo, release the shift key.
  • If you are prompted to log in, type your password, and then hold down the shift key again as you click Log in.


Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.


The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.


*Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t boot in safe mode.


Test while in safe mode. Same problem?


After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of steps 1 and 2.

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 13, 2013 11:11 PM in response to Linc Davis

Sadly I have FileVault 2 activated which will prevent me for doing both tests.


It is going to take some time to disable FileVault I guess, so I won't be able to do it right now. However, I can create a standard new account and use that instead of the guest one (for Step 1). At least this would hint us if it is my "profile" which has this specially continuously stubborn automount feature. ;-)

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 14, 2013 1:43 AM in response to Linc Davis

So I have found out that it is not an account problem, I get it on other accounts too. The problem is related to the NetAuthSysAgent process (see below)


Furthermore, I have started my VM again, waited for OS X to mount it auto-stubbornly-magically and boom(tm) it was there mounted.


I issued the umount command and it was gone. Then I did nothing (but prevented the Mac to go to sleep) for a while. I checked again if the mount was there, and boom! It was there again auto-stubbornly-magically without any user interactions! Just for fun you can see the terminal output at the end of this message, time is not visible there but all applications where closed during that time and I waited about 5 min before doing the last df command.


When I saw that I had a strong suspicion that there is a process actively trying to mount it in the background. I typed another command in the terminal and I found an obvious culprit:

mbp:~ huygens$ ps -aef

UID PID PPID C STIME TTY TIME CMD

0 1 0 0 9:55AM ?? 0:00.34 /sbin/launchd

(…)

1 0 9:55AM ?? 0:00.09 /System/Library/CoreServices/NetAuthAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/NetAuthSysAgent --sys

(…)

0 483 96 0 9:57AM ?? 0:00.00 mount_nfs -onobrowse 192.168.1.250:/mnt/test /Volumes/test


So there is a process (mount_nfs PID 483) who is trying to mount the NFS export. This process is called by NetAuthSysAgent (PID 96) which is itself launched by the "init" process. My concern is that I have found no resource how to configure this service so that it will drop trying to mount the NFS share!

Any help is appreciated.



Terminal output, one can see that the test NFS export is mounted. I unmount it and one can see that it is not mounted anymore. After a while I check again and there it is back mounted!


mbp:~ huygens$ df

Filesystem 512-blocks Used Available Capacity iused ifree %iused Mounted on

/dev/disk1 974770480 492244672 482013808 51% 61594582 60251726 51% /

devfs 377 377 0 100% 652 0 100% /dev

map -hosts 0 0 0 100% 0 0 100% /net

map auto_home 0 0 0 100% 0 0 100% /home

localhost:/WMQa50uhmYBFmxPvp1z0ZJ 974770480 974770480 0 100% 0 0 100% /Volumes/MobileBackups

192.168.1.250:/mnt/test 5747242952 7843944 5739399008 1% 2154 5739399008 0% /Volumes/test


mbp:~ huygens$ sudo umount /Volumes/test

Password:


mbp:~ huygens$ df

Filesystem 512-blocks Used Available Capacity iused ifree %iused Mounted on

/dev/disk1 974770480 492251040 482007440 51% 61595378 60250930 51% /

devfs 372 372 0 100% 646 0 100% /dev

map -hosts 0 0 0 100% 0 0 100% /net

map auto_home 0 0 0 100% 0 0 100% /home

localhost:/WMQa50uhmYBFmxPvp1z0ZJ 974770480 974770480 0 100% 0 0 100% /Volumes/MobileBackups


mbp:~ huygens$ df

Filesystem 512-blocks Used Available Capacity iused ifree %iused Mounted on

/dev/disk1 974770480 490782360 483476120 51% 61411793 60434515 50% /

devfs 371 371 0 100% 644 0 100% /dev

map -hosts 0 0 0 100% 0 0 100% /net

map auto_home 0 0 0 100% 0 0 100% /home

192.168.1.250:/mnt/test 5747242952 7843944 5739399008 1% 2154 5739399008 0% /Volumes/test

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 14, 2013 2:59 AM in response to Huygens-25

Some more hint for the knowledgable ones out there.


It seems that this NetAuthSysAgent is launched upon the connection of one user. So if I start the machine and connect with user alpha and do 'ps -aef' I get a PID of 96 (as an example) then if I logout and login as beta I get a pid of 452.


So it seems to be a process which is launch upon login for all users. If anyone could confirm that?

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 14, 2013 7:20 AM in response to Linc Davis

The content of auto_master is:

+auto_master # Use directory service
/net -hosts -nobrowse,hidefromfinder,nosuid
/home auto_home -nobrowse,hidefromfinder
/Network/Servers -fstab
/- -static


The file was modified before the I bought the Mac (bought new!):

$ stat -x /etc/auto_master

File: "/etc/auto_master"

Size: 194 FileType: Regular File

Mode: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ wheel)

Device: 1,4 Inode: 279356 Links: 1

Access: Thu Feb 14 16:11:10 2013

Modify: Sun Jul 22 04:24:55 2012

Change: Sun Jul 22 04:24:55 2012


The dscl command return nothing (empty) either as my user or by calling it using sudo.


I am not part of a domain, it is my home laptop and I have simple local accounts.

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 15, 2013 1:30 AM in response to Linc Davis

The virtualisation software is on another machine, not on the Mac where I have this annoying popup. So it won't change a thing.


I am really wondering where to look for documentation on this service NetAuthAgent. Is it related in a way to TimeMachine? I just got a hunch that perhaps TM saw the mount and has been trying to back it up once, perhaps now it is the culprit trying to mount it again to see if any change happened to back them up...


Anyway thank you Linc for your help, thanks to you I think I managed to find the culprit behind the popup, my last step would be to create a small daemon that track and kill this service, or better to tune that service so that it stops mounting the NFS export.

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 15, 2013 4:26 AM in response to Huygens-25

I have done the following:


  • Disable TimeMachine and removed its configuration;
  • Unistall CrashPlan (another backup software);
  • Disable SpotLight on all volumes and removed its cache.


After that and a reboot I was greated by the infamous popup. So no help there...


I did a major grep on all existing files (and made the Core i7 and SDD sweat hard!):

sudo find / -type f -print0 | sudo xargs -0 -n 32 -P 8 egrep "test|192\.168\.1\.250" 2>/dev/null


The only files that got reported are:

  • Logs: /private/var/log/system.log, /private/var/log/asl/2013.02.09.G80.asl (several of those with different dates)
  • Data: /private/var/db/statd.status


That's it!


So now I am investigating the thread regarding rpc.statd and the cohort of OS X NFS services/daemons.

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User profile for user: Linc Davis
Linc Davis
User level: Level 10
209,547 points

Feb 15, 2013 6:15 AM in response to Huygens-25

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.


These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.


Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.


Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.


Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.


Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:


☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)


☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.


☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.


When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.


Step 1


Triple-click the line of text below to select it:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'

Copy (command-C) the selected text to the Clipboard. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered. You can do that by copy-and-paste as well. Omit the final line ending in “$”. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2


Repeat with this line:

sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. It won't be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.


Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.


Step 3

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'

Step 4

ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null

Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.


Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null

Remember, steps 1-5 are all copy-and-paste — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.


You can then quit Terminal.

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User profile for user: Huygens-25
Huygens-25 Author
User level: Level 1
9 points

Feb 15, 2013 8:43 AM in response to Linc Davis

Step1:


No output.


Step2:


org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx

com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool

com.google.keystone.daemon

com.crashplan.engine

com.bresink.system.securityagent3

com.adobe.fpsaud


Note: I have already uninstalled CrashPlan to see if ti was a culprit, but as it wasn't I reinstall it (backup is important ;-) )


Step3:


org.macosforge.xquartz.startx

com.oracle.java.Java-Updater

com.google.keystone.system.agent

com.synology.Synology

com.plexapp.helper

com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent


Note: I have a Synology NAS and I have installed CloudStation (a Dropbox like app)


Step4:


/Library/Components:


/Library/Extensions:


/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

Adobe AIR.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

MacFUSE.framework

Mono.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

OSXFUSE.framework

PluginManager.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework


/Library/Input Methods:


/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

Flash Player.plugin

GarminGpsControl.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin

flashplayer.xpt

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt


/Library/Keyboard Layouts:


/Library/LaunchAgents:

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist


/Library/LaunchDaemons:

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.bresink.system.securityagent3.plist

com.crashplan.engine.plist

com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist


/Library/PreferencePanes:

Flash Player.prefPane

JavaControlPanel.prefPane


/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

com.bresink.system.securityagent3


/Library/QuickLook:

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator


/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component


/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

SynoSIMBL.osax


/Library/Spotlight:

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter


/Library/StartupItems:


/etc/mach_init.d:


/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:


/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:


Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

SkypeABDialer.bundle

SkypeABSMS.bundle


Library/Fonts:


Library/Input Methods:

.localized


Library/Internet Plug-Ins:


Library/Keyboard Layouts:


Library/LaunchAgents:

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.F4A55E9F-72F0-414C-9D3A-1E0 DA576A669.plist

com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent.plist

com.plexapp.helper.plist

com.synology.CloudStation.plist


Library/PreferencePanes:


That was all.


Step5:


iTunesHelper, Dropbox, CrashPlan menu bar


Thank you very much for your deep help and for your time! I hope anything in this output might help you.

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Temporary NFS mount keep being mounted while server is powered off

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