NFS v4.1 clients freeze during domain controller restart due to File locks

Pradeep Singh Arora 40 Reputation points
2026-09-01T05:36:42.3566667+00:00

We have Linux clients mounted to a Windows Server NFS v4.1 export, and whenever the primary Domain Controller restarts, the clients experience file locks and IO freezes. I don't know how to solve this. How can I configure NFS Kerberos identity mapping caching and local file lock timeouts??

Windows for business | Windows 365 Enterprise
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VPHAN 43,315 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-09-01T06:10:26.1566667+00:00

Hi Pradeep Singh Arora,

To properly manage identity mapping caching and prevent permission or lookup failures under Kerberos authentication, you must update the NFS ID mapping configuration file located at /etc/idmapd.conf on each Linux host. Inside this file, explicitly setting the Domain directive to match your exact Active Directory realm ensures that numeric user and group identifiers map consistently to valid principal names. On the Windows Server side, maintaining stable Active Directory integration and ensuring that host principal names and service tickets remain synchronized prevents the NFS mapper from failing during domain controller failovers.

Hope this answer has brought you some useful information. If it did, please hit “accept answer”. Should you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

VPHAN

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