Server - Network File Distribution

I am setting up NFS on the server, and Kodi on firestick.

This post will be the first step into a look on how I set up my server. I meant to write this much later down the line actually, I wanted to flesh out my OS design first. But I have been really wanting to watch my movie library in the living room. So instead of going through my OS workflow, I will dive into my NFS setup. This also includes managing files on an Amazon Firestick as well; as it is the machine I have on hand for HDMI output.

Planning

What I have been trying to set up has been;

• Set up MariaDB server on my Server.
• Connect Kodi to use this server as the database (this is done)
• Set up NFS shares on the Server (this has been problematic)
• Add the NFS shares to Kodi; so that I can stream videos from my Server (Not here yet)
• Set this on my Firestick; so I have Kodi experience in my living room. (More or less done)

Setting up MariaDB to use with the Server

So this step is pretty easy; I followed the Archwiki.

Installing MariaDB is as easy as running the following command as root.

mariadb-install-db --user=mysql --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql
mysql_secure_installation

Then to create a database for Kodi; all that needs to be done is run the following in the mariadb console;

mysql -u root -p
   <<enter the mariadb root password assigned in the first step>>
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE USER 'kodi' IDENTIFIED BY 'kodi';
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL ON *.* TO 'kodi';
MariaDB [(none)]> flush privileges;
MariaDB [(none)]> \q

Then to connect a Kodi instance to this database; the file userdata/advancedsettings.xml needs to be dropped in the kodi folder.

<advancedsettings>
  <videodatabase>
    <type>mysql</type>
    <host>192.168.1.117</host>
    <port>3306</port>
    <user>kodi</user>
    <pass>kodi</pass>
  </videodatabase>

  <musicdatabase>
    <type>mysql</type>
    <host>192.168.1.117</host>
    <port>3306</port>
    <user>kodi</user>
    <pass>kodi</pass>
  </musicdatabase>

  <videolibrary>
    <importwatchedstate>true</importwatchedstate>
    <importresumepoint>true</importresumepoint>
  </videolibrary>
</advancedsettings>

For regular linux users, this directory is ~/.kodi. For the Firestick, the location is /sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata/ Do note that the server needs the followind service enabled in firewalld

• mysql (3306 TCP): The port to connect to MariaDB.

To put this file in the Firestick; I used adb through network. It’s described here.

NFS Problems

So I have been trying to setup NFS; but it seems harder than I thought. At least for this usecase.

I started by reading the ArchWiki. Which leads me into making the following entries to my /etc/fstab

/home/sbp/Music         /srv/nfs/media/Music-Home       none    defaults,rbind  0   0
/home/sbp/Videos        /srv/nfs/media/Videos-Home      none    defaults,rbind  0   0
/home/sbp/Pictures      /srv/nfs/media/Pictures-Home    none    defaults,rbind  0   0
/home/archive/Music     /srv/nfs/media/Music-Archive    none    defaults,rbind  0   0
/home/archive/Videos    /srv/nfs/media/Videos-Archive   none    defaults,rbind  0   0
/home/archive/Pictures  /srv/nfs/media/Videos-Archive   none    defaults,rbind  0   0

And created a file named /etc/exports.d/server.exports

# Home folder: Make available to edit to homestation and laptop
/srv/nfs/home sbp-homestation(rw,sync,crossmnt,insecure,no_subtree_check,all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000)
/srv/nfs/home sbp-laptop(rw,sync,crossmnt,insecure,no_subtree_check,all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000)

# Media share; Allow all local connections to view files
/srv/nfs/media 192.168.1.0/24(ro,sync,crossmnt,insecure,no_subtree_check,all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000)

I opened the service through my firewall; which was the nfs (opens the 2049 TCP port). I did this both on my server, and my homestation. (Idea was I also want to share some folders from the homestation.)

Problem 1: No hostname resolution

I did sudo exportfs -arv on the server. And;

exportfs: Failed to resolve sbp-homestation
exportfs: Failed to resolve sbp-homestation
exportfs: Failed to resolve sbp-laptop
exportfs: Failed to resolve sbp-laptop

Which baffled me on two terms

• Why would the hosts be tried for resolution? Does the config need the computers to be available on export? Seems like a ridiculous setup to me. Unfortunately, that is the case; at least by specifying hostnames. To make sure only my machines have read/write access to my home folder; I will probably have to authenticate my machines, which will be Kerberos. But anyways; that’s something to think about later.
• Wait. You are trying to resolve sbp-homestation. Which is online right now. WHY WOULD YOU FAIL TO DO SO? Unless . . .

Now, this is an issue I never came accross before. I dreaded issuing ping sbp-homestation. The result;

ping: sbp-homestation: Name or service not known

WHAT?

I did a double-down. I did ping sbp-server from my homestation.

Nada.

What is going on? I used termux on my phone, and logged in with my laptop too. Here is what I surmised.

• sbp-server is not resolvable by any other computer in my home network.
• My other devices (sbp-homestation, sbp-laptop, sbp-phone) can resolve eachother.
• /etc/nsswitch.conf is identical in all devices. (Sans the Android)
• Everyone can resolve each other using avahi. Issuing ping sbp-<cmp>.local does work;

  ping sbp-homestation.local
  PING sbp-homestation.local(sbp-homestation.local (fe80::b3f:42e9:b87c:bc8a%wifi-server)) 56 data bytes
  64 bytes from sbp-homestation.local (fe80::b3f:42e9:b87c:bc8a%wifi-server): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=242 ms
  ^C
  --- sbp-homestation.local ping statistics ---
  2 packets transmitted, 1 received, 50% packet loss, time 1002ms
  rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 242.212/242.212/242.212/0.000 ms
  

  However; avahi is working through IPv6.

Immediately, this is not terrible. I don’t really need hostname resolution right now. I don’t mind using IPv6; and I don’t mind an extra .local suffix. Kodi NFS does not use hostname resolution anyway; it needs static IPv4 IP.

I know for a fact that every computer I use has the same network configuration files. I use git with etckeeper to keep everything in sync. Which lead me to the fact that the only difference between the devices was the following in /etc/dhcpcd.conf

# Configure static ip for server ethernet port
interface wifi-server
arping 192.168.1.0
arping 192.168.1.1

interface ethernet-server
arping 192.168.1.0
arping 192.168.1.1

profile 192.168.1.0
static ip_address=192.168.1.113
static routers=192.168.1.0
static domain_name_servers=192.168.1.0

profile 192.168.1.1
static ip_address=192.168.1.117
static routers=192.168.1.1
static domain_name_servers=192.168.1.0

The breakdown of what’s happening here is; I rename my network interfaces using udev, so that I can write configuration that is machine agnostic. (But can configure stuff differently in the case when I want to.) I wanted to set a static IP address for my server only. So I set things up following this page However; I realized that blindly I configured in the wrong DNS address. (The lines with static domain_name_servers) Removing those lines, and restarting dhcpcd and unbound fixed one part of this issue. I can resolve sbp-server to the IPv4 address that is fine. I still cannot resolve any other computer (sbp-homestation) from the server.

Immediate lesson is, honestly, DON’T COPY PASTE, TRY TO UNDERSTAND EACH LINE. No matter how good you think you are; you should never ever do this.

Problem 2: Firewall

(I will mention that I have been trying to find the appropriate settings for two months.) Anyways; things are configured, and I have done the following;

• No firewalls on either of the computers. (firewalld is disabled)
• Issuing showmount -e sbp-server displays the following

  /srv/nfs/media 192.168.1.0/24
  /srv/nfs/sbp   192.168.1.0/24
  /srv/nfs       192.168.1.0/24
  

  So we know that nfs3 is working. (Showmount is nfs3 only) This is important; because although it is not documented anywhere; Kodi can only use nfs3 and not nfs4. Apparently; Kodi uses libnfs, which should have support for nfs4 but it is not implemented in Kodi 18.

• Running the following works successfully;

  mount sbp-server:/srv/nfs/media         /mnt # IPv4, using nfs3
  mount sbp-server.local:/srv/nfs/media   /mnt # IPv6, using nfs3
  mount sbp-server:/media                 /mnt # IPv4, using nfs4
  mount sbp-server.local:/media           /mnt # IPv6, using nfs4
  

• When I open Kodi from my laptop and want to add sources; I can see and navigate to my server in the NFS menu.

At this stage; from my experiments; enabling firewall in any of the computers breaks Kodi showing in the menu. I keep my server on the internal zone; by putting both wifi-server and ethernet-server to the internal zone.

I needed to enable services to my internal zone, so that NFS works. Borrowing from this link, it seems that for NFS to work with Kodi, mountd, nfs, and rpc-bind need to be open.

These are the services and ports I have opened on the server for Kodi;

• mountd (20048 TCP/UDP): This allows showmount. (Apparently in other distros; mountd is not specified in /etc/services; hence this port is random. It must be set to a static port, and that port should be opened in the firewall)
• mysql (3306 TCP): This is for MariaDB server access.
• nfs (2049 TCP): This is the main port that should be opened.
• rpc-bind: (111 UDP/TCP): This allows use of rpcinfo I believe.

And through enabling these services on the server, I am able to see my mount points and browse using Kodi.

There is a firewall problem on the client end. It must be because when I enable the firewall on the client end, I can’t see the server in the NFS listing (in Kodi) anymore. This is odd; because a client firewall should not block access to a server.

There is probably a port I can open on the client to get the entry back. But manual entry works fine; and I will use it as such. Not to mention; it’s doable in the Firestick, and the homestation can still play the files.

Getting the Firestick working

I already sideloaded Kodi on my firestick some time ago. When the Arch packages move on to version 19, I will put in the sideloader here as well.

End remarks

All set up; and everything is working! I think I got my media under my own control for the time being. Feel free to reach out for any questions.