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---
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page_title: "NFS - Synced Folders"
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sidebar_current: "syncedfolder-nfs"
---
# NFS
In some cases the default shared folder implementations (such as VirtualBox
shared folders) have high performance penalties. If you're seeing less
than ideal performance with synced folders, [NFS ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_File_System_%28protocol%29 )
can offer a solution. Vagrant has built-in support to orchestrate the
configuration of the NFS server on the host and guest for you.
< div class = "alert alert-info" >
< p >
< strong > Windows users:< / strong > NFS folders do not work on Windows
hosts. Vagrant will ignore your request for NFS synced folders on
Windows.
< / p >
< / div >
## Prerequisites
Before using synced folders backed by NFS, the host machine must have
`nfsd` installed, the NFS server daemon. This comes pre-installed on Mac
OS X, and is typically a simple package install on Linux.
Additionally, the guest machine must have NFS support installed. This is
also usually a simple package installation away.
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If you're using the VirtualBox provider, you'll also need to make sure you
have a
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[private network set up ](http://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/networking/private_network.html ). This is due to a limitation of VirtualBox's built-in networking. With
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VMware, you do not need this.
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## Root Privilege Requirement
To configure NFS, Vagrant must modify system files on the host. Therefore,
at some point during the `vagrant up` sequence, you may be prompted for
administrative privileges (via the typical `sudo` program). These
privileges are used to modify `/etc/exports` as well as to start and
stop the NFS server daemon.
## Enabling NFS Synced Folders
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To enable NFS, just add the `type: "nfs"` flag onto your synced folder:
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```ruby
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
# ...
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config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", type: "nfs"
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end
```
If you add this to an existing Vagrantfile that has a running guest machine,
be sure to `vagrant reload` to see your changes.
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## NFS Synced Folder Options
NFS synced folders have a set of options that can be specified that are
unique to NFS. These are listed below. These options can be specified in
the final part of the `config.vm.synced_folder` definition, along with the
`type` option.
* `nfs_udp` (boolean) - Whether or not to use UDP as the transport. UDP
is faster but has some limitations (see the NFS documentation for more
details). This defaults to true.
* `nfs_version` (string | integer) - The NFS protocol version to use when
mounting the folder on the guest. This defaults to 3.
