--- title: "Configure QNAP NFS as VMware ESXi Dastastore" date: "2021-01-12T13:00:00+01:00" tags: ["Datastore", "ESXi", "NFS"] categories: ["Storage & Backup", "VMware"] --- ![Sharing][1] It has been a while since I wrote about NFS datastores and VMware ESXi. In my previous post [How to add NFS export to VMware ESXi 6.5][2]I used NFS server on my host back then. In this post I will show you how you can use QNAP NFS exports with VMware ESXi. ## Prerequisites - QNAP NAS - VMware ESXi - mentioned solution should work starting from VMware ESXi 6.0+ ## QNAP Configuration QNAP configuration is pretty much straightforward. Let's configure NFS. 1. Login to QNAP NAS.
![QNAP NAS Control Panel][3] 2. From Control Panel choose Win/Mac/NFS
![Win/Mac/NFS][4] 3. Switch to **NFS Service**. Select desired NFS version. I've tested it with both NFS v2/v3 and NFS v4.
![NFS Service][5] 4. QNAP recommends disabling write cache function. Simply click on the link fron the NFS service or go to **Control Panel**, **System**, **Hardware**. De-select **Enable write cache (EXT4 delay allocation)** and click **Apply**.
![Disable EXT4 delay allocation][6] 5. Now we need to create a shared folder. Go to **Control Panel**, **Priviledge**, **Shared Folders**. Click **Create**. Provide share name and choose disk volume if you have more than one.
![Create Shared Folder][7] 6. Now we need to change NFS priviliges to allow access from ESXi hosts. Once the shared folder is crated click the middle icon to assign permissions.
![Assign permissions][8] 7. In a new window choose **NFS Host Access**.
![NFS Host Access][9] 8. Once selected you need to provide following information: - **Host/IP/Network**. In my case I've selected Network. If you want to grant access from anywhere simply use * as a wildcard. - Choose **read/write**. - Select **Squash no users**
![QNAP NFS permissions][10] 9. Settings are applied and ready to be consumed by VMware ESXi. ## ESXi Configuration VMware ESXi can consume NFS resources by using NFS version 3 and version 4. I've tested it with both and I will descibre the process. ### NFS v3 1. Click on Datacenter, Cluster or ESXi where you want to attach NFS Datastore.
![Add datastore to VMware ESXi][11] 2. Choose **NFS** as a new datastore type.
![Choose NFS][12] 3. Choose **NFS 3**.
![NFS 3][13] 4. Provide datastore name, QNAP shared folder and QNAP IP or FQDN.
![QNAP NFS details][14] 5. Select to which hosts or Cluster you want to attach the NFS datastore.
![Add NFS to host or cluster][15] 6. Click **Finish** on ready to complete section.
![Final step NFS QNAP][16] 7. NFS datastore is added. 8. I initiated Storage vMotion from my local drives to shared NFS drive. It works well.
![NFS Storage vMotion][17] 9. From QNAP point of view we see incoming data :)
![QNAP Admin Panel][18] 10. Here is vMotioned virtual machine.
![Test virtual machine on NFS][19] ### NFS v4 - The procedure only differs from the point number **3**.
![NFS 4][20] - You can but you don't need to use authentication. In my case I don't have Active Directory so I can't test it. However it works :)
![NFS 4 summary][21] ![NFS 4 datastore][22] ## Summary In this post I showed you how to configure QNAP and its NFS service to create a datastore on VMware ESXi. I hope it will all work for you. In the next post I will configure datastore using iSCSI from QNAP. Stay tuned! [1]: /images/uploads/2021/01/pexels-roman-odintsov-4871119.webp [2]: https://wojcieh.net/how-to-add-nfs-export-to-vmware-esxi-6-5/ "How to add NFS export to VMware ESXi 6-5" [3]: /images/uploads/2021/01/01-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [4]: /images/uploads/2021/01/02-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [5]: /images/uploads/2021/01/03-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [6]: /images/uploads/2021/01/04-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [7]: /images/uploads/2021/01/05-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [8]: /images/uploads/2021/01/06-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [9]: /images/uploads/2021/01/07-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [10]: /images/uploads/2021/01/08-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [11]: /images/uploads/2021/01/09-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [12]: /images/uploads/2021/01/11-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [13]: /images/uploads/2021/01/12-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [14]: /images/uploads/2021/01/13-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [15]: /images/uploads/2021/01/14-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [16]: /images/uploads/2021/01/15-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [17]: /images/uploads/2021/01/16-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [18]: /images/uploads/2021/01/17-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [19]: /images/uploads/2021/01/18-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [20]: /images/uploads/2021/01/19-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [21]: /images/uploads/2021/01/20-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp [22]: /images/uploads/2021/01/21-nfs-qnap-datastore.webp