📖 ~1 min read
Table of contents
Symptom & Impact
Applications fail I/O with stale file handle errors on NFS paths.
Environment & Reproduction
Common after server snapshot rollback or export recreation.
Root Cause Analysis
Client file handles reference server objects that no longer exist.
Quick Triage
Identify impacted mount points and active open file handles.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis
Compare client mount options and current server export state.
Solution – Primary Fix
Gracefully stop app, remount export, then restart workload.
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Solution – Alternative Approaches
Use automount strategy for non-critical paths to reduce downtime.
Verification & Acceptance Criteria
No stale-handle messages and read/write probes pass.
Rollback Plan
Mount backup export target if primary dataset remains unstable.
Prevention & Hardening
Coordinate rollback procedures with planned client remount orchestration.
Related Errors & Cross-Refs
Related to lockd timeouts and RPC version compatibility issues.
Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for FreeBSD 12.
View all FreeBSD 12 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →
Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.
References & Further Reading
FreeBSD NFS administration and nfsstat documentation.
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