# Installing the NFS client
<a name="mounting-fs-install-nfsclient"></a>

To mount your EFS file system on your Amazon EC2 instance, first you need to install an NFS client. To connect to your EC2 instance and install an NFS client, you need the public DNS name of the EC2 instance and a user name to log in. That user name for your instance is typically `ec2-user`.

**To connect your EC2 instance and install the NFS client**

1. Connect to your EC2 instance. For more information, see [Connect to your EC2 instance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/connect.html) in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.

   The key file cannot be publicly viewable for SSH. You can use the **chmod 400 *filename*.pem** command to set these permissions. For more information, see [ Create a key pair for your Amazon EC2 instance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/create-key-pairs.html).

1. (Optional) Get updates and reboot.

   ```
   $ sudo yum -y update 
               $  sudo reboot
   ```

1. After the reboot, reconnect to your EC2 instance.

1. Install the NFS client.

   If you're using an Amazon Linux AMI or Red Hat Linux AMI, install the NFS client with the following command.

   ```
   $ sudo yum -y install nfs-utils
   ```

   If you're using an Ubuntu Amazon EC2 AMI, install the NFS client with the following command.

   ```
   $ sudo apt-get -y install nfs-common
   ```

1. Start the NFS service using the following command:

   ```
   $ sudo service nfs-server start
   ```

1. Verify that the NFS service started, as follows.

   ```
   $ sudo service nfs-server status
   Redirecting to /bin/systemctl status nfs.service
   ● nfs-server.service - NFS server and services
      Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nfs-server.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
      Active: active (exited) since Wed 2019-10-30 16:13:44 UTC; 5s ago
     Process: 29446 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/rpc.nfsd $RPCNFSDARGS (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
     Process: 29441 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /bin/kill -HUP `cat /run/gssproxy.pid` (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
     Process: 29439 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/exportfs -r (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Main PID: 29446 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
      CGroup: /system.slice/nfs-server.service
   ```

If you use a custom kernel (that is, if you build a custom AMI), you need to include at a minimum the NFSv4.1 client kernel module and the right NFS4 userspace mount helper.

**Note**  
If you choose **Amazon Linux AMI 2016.03.0** or **Amazon Linux AMI 2016.09.0** when launching your Amazon EC2 instance, you don't need to install `nfs-utils` because it's already included in the AMI by default.

**Next: Mount your file system**  
Use one of the following procedures to mount your file system.
+ [Mounting on Amazon EC2 with a DNS name](mounting-fs-mount-cmd-dns-name.md)
+ [Mounting with an IP address](mounting-fs-mount-cmd-ip-addr.md)
+ [Automatically mounting EFS file systemsEnabling automatic mounting on EC2 Linux or Mac instances using NFS](nfs-automount-efs.md)