HP-UX 11i Version 2 Release Notes (October 2003)

Disk and File Management
Automounter (Obsolete)
Chapter 5
112
Performance
Now that the device id of each mounted filesystem is available in the /etc/mnttab file,
AutoFS can get the device id from the /etc/mnttab file instead from the filesystem
server. This leads to performance improvements on systems with many
AutoFS-managed filesystems and with slow or non-responding servers.
Documentation
The getmntent (3X) has been modified to reflect this change.
Obsolescence
Not applicable.
Automounter (Obsolete)
The Automounter mounts directories automatically when users or processes request
access to them, and it unmounts them automatically after they have been idle for a
period of time.
Summary of Change
HP has obsoleted the Automounter in the HP-UX 11i v2 release.
Impact
The AutoFS automounter was released in all versions of HP-UX beginning with HP-UX
10.30. Formerly co-existent with the Automounter, AutoFS is its recommended
replacement. AutoFS performs the same functions as Automounter, but it has a new,
more reliable design. Additionally, AutoFS uses the same maps as Automounter, and
AutoFS supports the NFS PV3 protocol whereas the Automounter does not.
In summary, only AutoFS is supported in HP-UX 11i v2 and future releases. (See
“AutoFS” on page 110.)
Compatibility
There are no compatibility issues.
Performance
There are no performance issues.
Documentation
See “AutoFS” on page 110.