What "unmapped user access" for NFS share in Windows Server 2008 R2?

[Horinius]

Initially, I followed this Youtube video to configure an NFS share in Windows Server 2008 R2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ8Q_vsiksg

Please notice that the default option Allow unmapped user Unix access is not changed (at around 1 min 57 sec).

Then I found another article at http://www.vmwarearena.com/2012/07/create-nfs-datastore-for-esx-in-windows.html

But in this article, I'm told to select Allow anonymous access (instead of Allow unmapped user Unix access).

So, who is correct?  Or both are correct (which means this "unmapped user access" does not matter)?

And why should we have to enable Allow root access (in the NFS Share Permissions dialog)?  Isn't this a security risk?

Thanks in advance.

[NealeC · Accepted solution]

Have you tried running through the steps from the VMware blog?

How to Enable NFS on Windows 2008 and Present to ESX | VMware Support Insider - VMware Blogs

Also there are 3 KB articles to be aware of in case of potential issues

1. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004490

2. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003967

3. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753302(WS.10).aspx

Noting in particular this section

Share the Windows folder for NFS

To share the Windows folder for NFS:

1. Right-click the local folder you want to share via NFS.
2. Click NFS Sharing.
3. Type in the name for the share. For example, NFS-VMFS01.
4. Remove Allow anonymous access.
5. Click Permissions.
6. Change the type of access to Read+Write and select Allow root Access.

[Horinius]

NealeC wrote:

Have you tried running through the steps from the VMware blog?

How to Enable NFS on Windows 2008 and Present to ESX | VMware Support Insider - VMware Blogs

No, I have not, because Google result didn't show this :smileylaugh:

Also there are 3 KB articles to be aware of in case of potential issues

1. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004490

2. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003967

3. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753302(WS.10).aspx

Noting in particular this section

To share the Windows folder for NFS:

1. Right-click the local folder you want to share via NFS.
2. Click NFS Sharing.
3. Type in the name for the share. For example, NFS-VMFS01.
4. Remove Allow anonymous access.
5. Click Permissions.
6. Change the type of access to Read+Write and select Allow root Access.

OK, thanks.  I have tried both "anonymous access" and non-anonymous access and both are working.

For my curiosity, I don't understand the logic behind this option.  What user is really used by ESXi host to connect to NFS?  For me, it's root because we chose that in "Permission" section.  So, is this option really relevant?