Enhanced AutoFS Administrator's Guide

Configuring and Administering AutoFS
Mounting a Remote Directory
Chapter 340
WARNING The local_subdirectory and local_parent_directory must not be
symbolic links.
If you are using NIS to manage your AutoFS maps, make sure the
local mount point is different from the exported directory on the
server. If they are same, the server may attempt to mount its
exported directory over itself, and the directory will become
unavailable.
The mount options that you can specify in the AutoFS maps are the same
ones that you use for the type of filesystem you attempt to automount.
For a list of mount options, see the “Changing the Default Mount
Options” section of NFS Services Administrator’s Guide. You cannot use
the bg option for an automounted directory. The mount options
configured in the indirect map override the ones in the master map if
there is a conflict.
You can configure indirect automounts in the same indirect map only if
their local_parent_directory , as specified in the AutoFS master map,
is the same. For example, you can configure indirect mounts with the
local mount points, /nfs/apps/draw and /nfs/apps/word, in the same
indirect map.
Indirect maps are usually called /etc/auto_ name , where name helps you
in identifying what is configured in the map. If you plan to use NIS to
manage your AutoFS maps, and if your file system does not support file
names longer than 14 characters, restrict your indirect map names to 10
characters or fewer.
If the indirect map name in the AutoFS master map begins with a slash
(/), then it is a local file for AutoFS. If it does not contain a slash, AutoFS
uses the Name Service Switch to determine whether it is a file or an NIS
map. See “Configuring the Name Service Switch” chapter of NFS
Services Administrator’s Guide.
Before you can mount a remote directory on your system, ensure to
configure the remote system where the directory is located as an NFS
server. In addition, make sure to export the directory.