Isilon: How to configure a macOS NFSv4 client to use numerical IDs
Summary: A simple configuration change on macOS can change its behavior on NFSv4 mounts to use UIDs and GIDs rather than user@nfsdomain NFSv4 principal names.
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Instructions
On the Mac client, open the Terminal application and run the following command:
sudo sysctl vfs.generic.nfs.client.idmap_ctrl=2Remount your NFSv4 export onto the Mac and test again.
Operations like chmod, chgrp, or chown will now be done using UIDs and GIDs instead of NFSv4 principal names (user@nfsdomain).
NOTE: Making this change survive reboots is not possible through the use of
/etc/sysctl.conf, due to restrictions imposed by macOS's System Integrity Protection (SIP) system. There are various guides available online that detail workarounds to this restriction, such as using a LaunchDaemon to set sysctls at boot. Discussion of those workarounds is out of scope for this KB article.
Affected Products
Isilon, PowerScale, Isilon Gen6.5, Isilon Gen6, PowerScale OneFSArticle Properties
Article Number: 000343792
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 14 Jul 2025
Version: 1
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