[Linux-disciples] Stale NFS file handle

[Stephen R Laniel]

I often get an irritating NFS error on the Mandrake machines
that a client of mine is running: it says "stale NFS file
handle." Ordinarily this happens when I've rebooted the NFS
server or just restarted the NFS daemon. I have to go
through on each client machine, umount the /home directory
and remount it. Today the problem was even more irritating:
some Gnome program (Evolution, I think) had written a bunch
of files to /tmp that were apparently bound to a specific
NFS filehandle. I had to wipe out all the files in there and
ask the user to log out and log back in. It's frustrating
and embarrassing.

I have fewer Debian machines at home, but I'm pretty sure
that I never see that error here. I would expect that if the
server rebooted, the client would just try to rebind and be
done with it.

But any way: do you guys know how to get rid of the
stale-file-handle error? It's one of the last bits of
unprofessionalism built into my client's network -- one of
the last ways that Linux is making a bad impression. If I
could get rid of it, that would be swell.

-- 
``[My 3-year-old, Zoe] thought for a moment, and then said,
  `you think George Bush is too stupid to have so much
  wesponsibility?' Yes, child. Exactly that. Plus malice.''
 -http://crookedtimber.org/archives/002857.html