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Install clients

Install the client package on every machine that will mount MooseFS. The package provides mfsmount, which presents the file system through FUSE, and the mfs* tools that manage files on it. The FUSE mount is not the only kind of client. The Windows Client has an installer of its own, covered on its own pages. On Linux the same client package also includes mfsbdev, which presents MooseFS files as block devices instead of a mounted file system (Block device operations). Client and mount covers what a client is and the forms it takes. Mount the file system next, as described in First mount and verification.

The commands below use the MooseFS PRO package name. The package name carries the edition. The commands assume that the machine already has the MooseFS package repository added. The client runs on the FUSE library. On Linux and FreeBSD the package depends on the library, so the package manager installs the library together with the client. On macOS, install macFUSE before the client. On Debian, Ubuntu, and the RHEL family, the package also depends on the package that includes the fusermount3 helper (fuse3), which a mount by any user other than root needs. Users who mount for themselves also need a line in /etc/fuse.conf. On the RHEL family, that file comes with fuse-common. The line is needed because the client passes allow_other by default (the mount does not come up). Client machines lists what a client machine needs, FUSE 3 included.

Install the package on Linux​

apt install moosefs-pro-client

On the RHEL family, replace apt install with dnf install.

Besides mfsmount, the package includes mount.moosefs, which lets mount -t moosefs and /etc/fstab entries start the client. The package also includes the mfs* file management tools, mfsbdev, the libmfsio client library, and a default mfsmount.cfg.

Install the client on FreeBSD​

The client package on FreeBSD is also named moosefs-pro-client:

pkg install moosefs-pro-client

The package includes mfsmount, the mfs* file management tools, the libmfsio client library, and a default mfsmount.cfg. The package depends on the FUSE 3 library, which pkg installs alongside.

FreeBSD provides FUSE through a kernel module, which has to be loaded before the client can mount anything. The client package does not load the module. Configuration at that level is left to you on purpose. The module is named fusefs on FreeBSD 13 and 14, and fuse on the two older supported releases, 11 and 12. kldstat shows whether the module is already loaded:

kldstat | grep fuse

A line naming fusefs.ko, or fuse.ko on FreeBSD 11 and 12, means that the module is in place. If nothing is printed, load the module:

kldload fusefs

An entry in /boot/loader.conf loads the module at boot, so a mount made after a reboot finds it:

fusefs_load="YES"

On FreeBSD 11 and 12 both the command and the entry use the older name: kldload fuse and fuse_load="YES".

Install the client on macOS​

macOS has no package repository to add: the client ships as a single installer package in the MooseFS repository. Install macFUSE first, because the client does not mount without it. Then download and run moosefs-pro-current.pkg, which contains the current release of the line that this documentation covers. The numbered directory beside it names the macOS release that the package is built for.

Your macOS version may require you to approve the FUSE system extension. A mount made here is readable in Finder immediately, but commands run from a terminal need one more permission from macOS (on macOS every command on the mount returns "Operation not permitted").

The client confirms its installation​

On Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS, mfsmount -V confirms in one step that the client is installed and that the client finds its FUSE library:

mfsmount -V
MFS version: 5.2.0-1-pro ; build: 2219

FUSE version information is printed below that line.

The Windows Client has its own installer​

The Windows Client PRO (PRO Edition only) is a native file system driver for Microsoft Windows, sold with MooseFS PRO. The Windows Client does not come from the package repository. MooseFS distributes it as a standalone installer. Windows Client covers requirements, installation, and usage.