What is nfsd?

You may see nfsd in Activity Monitor or notice it listening for network connections. Here is what it is.

What is nfsd?

nfsd stands for NFS daemon. NFS (Network File System) is a protocol for sharing files between computers over a network. The nfsd process is the server side. It lets other computers on your network reach folders on your Mac.

NFS has been around since the 1980s and is common in Unix and Linux settings. macOS includes it because of its Unix roots.

Is it running on my Mac?

By default, nfsd is not running. It only starts if you have set up NFS file sharing by making an /etc/exports file. If you have never done that, the process should not be active.

You can check:

sudo nfsd status

Do you need it?

Most people do not. macOS has its own file sharing built into System Settings (SMB protocol), which is simpler to set up and works well with both Macs and Windows machines.

NFS is mainly useful if you:

• Work in a mixed setting with Linux servers
• Need to share files with virtual machines (Docker, Vagrant)
• Have a specific workflow that needs NFS

How to stop it

If nfsd is running and you do not need it:

sudo nfsd disable

To start it again later:

sudo nfsd enable

Should you worry?

No, but if you did not set it up yourself and it is running, it is worth finding out why. Check if any application (such as Docker or Vagrant) made an /etc/exports file:

cat /etc/exports

That file sets out which folders are being shared over NFS.

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