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Installing MooseFS Clients

Clients are essential parts of the MooseFS ecosystem - they provide users and applications with direct access to the distributed file system. A properly installed and configured client allows seamless interaction with MooseFS volumes, making data access as easy as working with a local drive.

This chapter explains how to install MooseFS client software on various operating systems, including Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, and Windows. Each platform has specific installation methods and requirements, but once installed, all clients can mount and work with MooseFS in a consistent, POSIX-compliant way.

Following the steps in this chapter, you will be able to set up MooseFS clients across different environments, allowing flexible and scalable access to your MooseFS cluster.

MooseFS clients use the FUSE library. During installation, your operating system will automatically download and install FUSE if it is not already present.

Installing the MooseFS Client Package on Linux​

Debian-based systems​

apt-get install moosefs-pro-client

RedHat-based systems​

yum install moosefs-pro-client

Mounting a MooseFS Share​

Assume you want to mount the MooseFS share to the directory /mnt/mfs on the client machine. Run:

mkdir -p /mnt/mfs
mfsmount /mnt/mfs -H mfs-master

To verify that the mount is working, run:

df -h | grep mfs

Example output:

/storage/mfschunks/mfschunks1   2.0G   69M   1.9G   4%   /mnt/mfschunks1
/storage/mfschunks/mfschunks2   2.0G   69M   1.9G   4%   /mnt/mfschunks2
mfs#mfsmaster:9421              3.2G    0    3.2G   0%   /mnt/mfs

Repeat the installation and mount steps on every machine intended to act as a MooseFS Client (e.g., hosts in the 192.168.2.x network).

Enabling Automount at System Boot​

To enable MooseFS client automount during system boot:

  1. Ensure that the fuse and fuse-libs packages are installed.
  2. Add the following entry to /etc/fstab:
mfsmount /mnt/mfs fuse defaults,mfsmaster=mfsmaster.example.lan,mfsport=9421 0 0

When MooseFS Client Runs on the Same Machine as MooseFS Master Server​

Use the following /etc/fstab entry instead:

mfsmount /mnt/mfs fuse defaults,mfsdelayedinit,mfsmaster=mfsmaster.example.lan,mfsport=9421 0 0

Installing MooseFS Client on FreeBSD​

MooseFS packages are available in the FreeBSD Ports Collection. To install the client, update your ports tree and run:

pkg install moosefs-client

This installs the mfsmount and supporting tools. After installation, create a mountpoint (e.g., /mnt/mfs) and mount the MooseFS filesystem:

mfsmount /mnt/mfs -H mfs-master

Installing MooseFS Client on macOS​

You can install the MooseFS client on macOS using Homebrew. Ensure Homebrew is installed, then run:

brew install moosefs-client

After installation, create a mount directory (for example, /Volumes/mfs) and mount the filesystem:

mfsmount /mnt/mfs -H mfs-master`

Depending on your macOS version, you may need to approve FUSE/system extension permissions.

Installing MooseFS Client on Windows​

The MooseFS client for Windows is provided as a standalone installer from the official MooseFS website. Download the latest MooseFS Client for Windows installer and run it with administrator privileges.