@zapbranagann
PM as they are the owners of the samba version..
https://forums.unraid.net/topic/195826-plugin-custom-smb-shares/

By using their GitHub and example plugin code project...

By using the smb custom github as a base for the plugin...
https://github.com/cslemieux/unraid-custom-smb-shares

Here is a generic base setup to redeploy a similar plugin... I made a first-pass Unraid Custom NFS Shares scaffold based on the GitHub page SMB plugin:

What it does now:

• Adds a new plugin namespace: custom.nfs.shares

• Adds Unraid pages:

  • NFSShares.page

  • NFSSharesAdd.page

  • NFSSharesUpdate.page

  • NFSSharesSettings.page

• Stores persistent share definitions here:

/boot/config/plugins/custom.nfs.shares/shares.json

• Generates a persistent export file here:

/boot/config/plugins/custom.nfs.shares/custom-nfs-shares.exports

• Mirrors the runtime export drop-in here:

/etc/exports.d/custom-nfs-shares.exports

• Applies changes with:

exportfs -ra

• Shows status with:

exportfs -v

That matches the NFS-utils behavior: after /etc/exports, exportfs also reads extra export tables from /etc/exports.d, but only files ending in .exports are considered. The exportfs -ra reload path is also the right mechanism for re-exporting definitions without a full service restart.

Some Important caveats before this touches a real Unraid box:

1. Treat this as a development scaffold, not a release-ready plugin.
   I ported the core CRUD/config/reload shape, but the full test suite from the SMB plugin is not ported.

2. Test quoted export paths.
   The generator currently emits paths using PHP escapeshellarg(), like:

'/mnt/user/media' 192.168.1.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check,root_squash)

If Unraid’s NFS-utils rejects quoted paths in /etc/exports.d, we should switch that function to backslash-escape spaces instead.

3. Confirm Unraid NFS service behavior.
   The scaffold assumes NFS service is enabled already. If NFS is disabled in Unraid Settings, exportfs -ra may fail or do nothing useful.

4. The plugin XML still has placeholder release metadata.
   In custom.nfs.shares.plg, replace:

<!ENTITY github    "YOUR_GITHUB_USER/unraid-custom-nfs-shares">
<!ENTITY md5       "00000000000000000000000000000000">

*For Deployment...

5. Build script included.
   From the scaffold root:

./build.sh 2026.05.17-dev

The core file to review first is:

source/usr/local/emhttp/plugins/custom.nfs.shares/include/lib.php

That is where the NFS export line generation, validation, /etc/exports.d writing, exportfs -ra, and exportfs -v status logic live...

This is more to add custom sub folder sharing to nfs by adding to the /etc/exports.d/ ...

....

On modern Linux systems, you cannot use a direct "include" directive within the /etc/exports file itself. Instead, the NFS server automatically supports multiple configuration files via a drop-in directory located at /etc/exports.d/

Using the /etc/exports.d/ Directory
The exportfs command, which maintains the kernel's export table, is designed to read both the master /etc/exports file and any files ending in .exports within the /etc/exports.d/ directory.

How to use it: Create a new file in that directory (e.g., /etc/exports.d/additional_shares.exports) and add your share definitions there using the standard exports syntax.

1. Applying changes: After adding or modifying files in this directory, run the following command to refresh the export table without restarting the service:

   bash

   exportfs -ra
   

   Use code with caution.

   The -r flag re-exports all directories, synchronizing the kernel's table with /etc/exports and everything under /etc/exports.d/

I really don't want to support a plugin repo... but think that nfs should have a similar option as samba does on unraid...

Hey @bmartino1, I replied via PM but I'll mention it here as well, I'll use your skeleton as a base and roll out a NFS version as well as a separate plugin.