+.TP
+.IR fsid= num|root|uuid
+NFS needs to be able to identify each filesystem that it exports.
+Normally it will use a UUID for the filesystem (if the filesystem has
+such a thing) or the device number of the device holding the
+filesystem (if the filesystem is stored on the device).
+
+As not all filesystems are stored on devices, and not all filesystems
+have UUIDs, it is sometimes necessary to explicitly tell NFS how to
+identify a filesystem. This is done with the
+.I fsid=
+option.
+
+For NFSv4, there is a distinguished filesystem which is the root of
+all exported filesystem. This is specified with
+.I fsid=root
+or
+.I fsid=0
+both of which mean exactly the same thing.
+
+Other filesystems can be identified with a small integer, or a UUID
+which should contain 32 hex digits and arbitrary punctuation.
+
+Linux kernels version 2.6.20 and earlier do not understand the UUID
+setting so a small integer must be used if an fsid option needs to be
+set for such kernels. Setting both a small number and a UUID is
+supported so the same configuration can be made to work on old and new
+kernels alike.
+