EX200 Create and configure file systems Practice Question
An administrator is configuring an NFS mount in /etc/fstab to mount from server:/export to /mnt/data. The mount must use the 'hard' and 'nosuid' options. Which line is correct?
⚠ Common exam trap
Red Hat often tests the misconception that 'defaults' can be combined with other options without conflict, but in reality 'defaults' includes 'suid', which directly contradicts the required 'nosuid' option.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
server:/export /mnt/data nfs nosuid,hard 0 0
It specifies the NFS filesystem type and includes both required mount options: 'nosuid' (disallows set-user-identifier/set-group-identifier bits) and 'hard' (retries NFS requests indefinitely until the server responds). The syntax follows the correct /etc/fstab format: <server>:/<export> <mountpoint> <fstype> <options> <dump> <pass>.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
server:/export /mnt/data nfs defaults,noexec,nodev 0 0
Why it's wrong here
This fstab entry does not include the required nosuid option, so setuid binaries on the NFS share would still be executed with elevated privileges. It also omits an explicit hard mount option, which is normally desired for NFS to make operations continue retrying until the server recovers; relying on defaults does not guarantee the intended NFS behavior.
- ✗
server:/export /mnt/data nfs nosuid,hard,defaults 0 0
Why it's wrong here
Listing defaults after nosuid and hard is incorrect because defaults expands to a set of mount options that includes suid. Since the kernel processes mount options from left to right, the later defaults flag overrides the previously specified nosuid, thereby re-enabling setuid execution on the mounted share. To secure the mount, nosuid must appear after all conflicting defaults.
- ✗
server:/export /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 0
Why it's wrong here
The filesystem type is specified as ext4, but this entry describes an NFS network share, not a local ext4 block device. Using ext4 would make the kernel attempt to perform an ext4 superblock check on the remote exported directory, which will fail and prevent the mount from working. The filesystem type field must be nfs for a Network File System mount.
- ✗
server:/export /mnt/data nfs suid,soft 0 0
Why it's wrong here
This line explicitly enables the suid and soft options, both of which are undesirable for NFS mounts. The suid option permits setuid binaries from the network share to run with root privileges, a serious security risk, while soft mounts abruptly return I/O errors to processes when the NFS server becomes unresponsive, potentially causing data corruption. The correct configuration should use nosuid and hard instead.
- ✓
server:/export /mnt/data nfs nosuid,hard 0 0
Why this is correct
Correct: for an NFS mount in /etc/fstab, the nfs filesystem type is used and the options nosuid,hard provide the required security and reliability. nosuid disables setuid bit processing on the remote filesystem, and hard ensures client processes hang and retry if the server goes down, avoiding premature I/O errors. This entry is the only one that satisfies both requirements without conflicting options.
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