1 files changed, 41 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/nfs.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/nfs.txt
index f50f26ce6cd0..f2571c8bef74 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/nfs.txt
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/nfs.txt
@@ -12,9 +12,47 @@ and work is in progress on adding support for minor version 1 of the NFSv4
 protocol.
 
 The purpose of this document is to provide information on some of the
-upcall interfaces that are used in order to provide the NFS client with
-some of the information that it requires in order to fully comply with
-the NFS spec.
+special features of the NFS client that can be configured by system
+administrators.
+
+
+The nfs4_unique_id parameter
+============================
+
+NFSv4 requires clients to identify themselves to servers with a unique
+string.  File open and lock state shared between one client and one server
+is associated with this identity.  To support robust NFSv4 state recovery
+and transparent state migration, this identity string must not change
+across client reboots.
+
+Without any other intervention, the Linux client uses a string that contains
+the local system's node name.  System administrators, however, often do not
+take care to ensure that node names are fully qualified and do not change
+over the lifetime of a client system.  Node names can have other
+administrative requirements that require particular behavior that does not
+work well as part of an nfs_client_id4 string.
+
+The nfs.nfs4_unique_id boot parameter specifies a unique string that can be
+used instead of a system's node name when an NFS client identifies itself to
+a server.  Thus, if the system's node name is not unique, or it changes, its
+nfs.nfs4_unique_id stays the same, preventing collision with other clients
+or loss of state during NFS reboot recovery or transparent state migration.
+
+The nfs.nfs4_unique_id string is typically a UUID, though it can contain
+anything that is believed to be unique across all NFS clients.  An
+nfs4_unique_id string should be chosen when a client system is installed,
+just as a system's root file system gets a fresh UUID in its label at
+install time.
+
+The string should remain fixed for the lifetime of the client.  It can be
+changed safely if care is taken that the client shuts down cleanly and all
+outstanding NFSv4 state has expired, to prevent loss of NFSv4 state.
+
+This string can be stored in an NFS client's grub.conf, or it can be provided
+via a net boot facility such as PXE.  It may also be specified as an nfs.ko
+module parameter.  Specifying a uniquifier string is not support for NFS
+clients running in containers.
+
 
 The DNS resolver
 ================