Disclaimer

Let me stress before I begin that the below configuration is for testing only.  It involves insecure settings on the Windows 2008 server so do not use this information for a production solution.

Background

In an effort to learn about ESX 4.0, or vSphere, I set up 4 VMs within VMWare Workstation 6.5.2 using the below configuration:

• 2 VMs to run ESX 4.0.  I used the instructions at xtravirt.com (get them here) to create the VMs.
• 1 VM to run vCenter server.
• 1 VM to serve as a domain controller.  vCenter cannot be installed on a domain controller, hence the need for another VM.  By the way, you don’t need a domain environment for vSphere, but I wanted one to test with.

All my installs went fine.  However problems arose when attempting to use the vCenter server (OS: Windows 2008) as my NFS server.  I had used Windows 2003 in the past with no issue for a similar set up so I was stuck for awhile. Google searches revealed others with the same issue but no solutions (that I could find).  I’m happy to report I did finally get it working…steps below.  The following assumptions apply:

1. You have already added the File Server role with the Services for Network File System (NFS) role service and that you have an NFS share created.  For a walk-thru of this go here.
2. Your ESX host’s have a VMKernel port properly configured to allow access to the NFS server.  Confirm the configuration is correct by vmkping’ing the NFS server from the host itself.

Steps to enable ESX hosts to access NFS share on Windows 2008.

1. Edit the NTFS permissions of the shared folder to allow the ANONYMOUS LOGON group Full Control.
   1. 
2. On the NFS Sharing tab click the Manage NFS Sharing button.  Check the Allow anonymous access box.
   1. 
3. Click the Permissions button.  In the NFS Permissions dialog click Add.  Select Host and enter the IP address of your first ESX host.  Set the permissions to Read/Write and select the Allow root access box and click OK.  Repeat the proceedure for your other ESX host.
   1. 
4. Click OK three times then Close.  If a warning pops up about how insecure this configuration is, clickYes.  Remember, this is for testing only.
5. Open the Local Security Policyeditor (Start>Administrative tools>Local Security Policy), expand Local Policies, and click Security Options.
6. Locate the Network Access: Let Everyone permissions apply to anonymous userspolicy and make sure it is set to Enabled.
7. Reboot the NFS server.  When it comes back up you should be able to mount the NFS share from the ESX host(s) within vCenter.