---
name: "fai-make-nfsroot"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "fai-server"
version: "6.4.3"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/fai-make-nfsroot"
---

# fai-make-nfsroot(8)

create the FAI nfsroot directory

## NAME

fai-make-nfsroot - create the FAI nfsroot directory

## SYNOPSIS

**fai-make-nfsroot** \[*options*\]

## DESCRIPTION

Create the FAI nfsroot directory as pointed by $NFSROOT in the config\_file.  This directory is necessary for the installation of Debian on remote clients using the FAI package. The config\_file location is discussed in the OPTIONS below.

The exit code returned is 0 if all commands to build the root directory exited successfully and \>0 if an error occurs.

## OPTIONS

- **-a**

  Adjust a generic nfsroot. Add resolv.conf, add host entries, and/or set the root password.

- **-B BASETGZ**

  Use specified file as base file (can be base.tar.zst, base.tzst , base.tar.xz, base.txz) for the nfsroot. This avoids calling debootstrap and therefore reduces the buildtime for the nfsroot.

- **-c, --class *CLASS*\[,*CLASS*\]**

  Add these classes to the internal list of classes. This is usually not necessary.

- **-C CFDIR**

  Use CFDIR as configuration directory. Default is /etc/fai. You can also set the environment variable FAI\_ETC\_DIR.

- **-f**

  Force overwriting an existing nfsroot. By default fai-make-nfsroot aborts if the configuration variable NFSROOT points to a directory which already exists. To force overwriting (and therefore rebuilding) the existing nfsroot use this option. Note: To update and therefore preserve an existing nfsroot see option -k.

- **-g**

  Create a generic nfsroot. Remove most install server specific data from nfsroot. See also -a.

- **-K**

  Remove all kernels from NFSROOT.

- **-k**

  Install additional packages defined in /etc/fai/NFSROOT into the nfsroot. Also copies all kernels from the nfsroot to the directory $TFTPROOT. You can use this option, to upgrade all packages inside the nfsroot.

- **-N**

  Additionally install non-free packages defined in the NONFREE section of /etc/fai/NFSROOT.

- **-P**

  Preserve ssh configs including the keys of the root account and also the ssh host keys from inside the nfsroot when creating a new nfsroot.

- **-p**

  Preserve ssh configs including the keys of the root account. This will not preserve the ssh host keys inside the nfsroot when creating a new nfsroot.

- **-s**

  Create a smaller nfsroot. Do not install packages defined in /etc/fai/NFSROOT in the FULL section.

- **-v**

  Create verbose output on stdout.

- **-h**

  Show simple help.

- **-z**

  Use zstd for compressing the base.tar file which is much faster than xz. Default is to use xz.

## NOTES

If you do not use NFS, you may still use the NFSROOT directory as a staging point for building the base installation tarball.

## SEE ALSO

[*exports*(5)](/exports/5.md), [*nfsd*(8)](/nfsd/8.md), [*fai-setup*(8)](/fai-setup/8.md)

This program is part of FAI (Fully Automatic Installation).  See the FAI manual for more information on how to use fai-make-nfsroot. The FAI homepage is https://fai-project.org.

## FILES

- */etc/fai/fai.conf*

  The FAI configuration file.

- */etc/fai/nfsroot.conf*

  The configuration file for fai-make-nfsroot.

- */etc/fai/nfsroot-hooks/*

  Directory containing shell scripts (using LSB namespaces) to be sourced at the end of fai-make-nfsroot for additional configuration of the nfsroot. Can be changed with NFSROOT\_HOOKS.

- */etc/fai/apt/sources.list*

  Copy this file to the NFSROOT.

- */etc/fai/apt/keys/\*.gpg*

  Repository keys in .gpg format found here will be installed into the NFSROOT.

- */var/log/fai/variables*

  The script will write the values of FAI\_VERSION and NFSROOT to this file.

## AUTHOR

Thomas Lange \<lange@cs.uni-koeln.de\>