NFS Services Administrator Guide for 11i v3 (5900-2572, September 2012)

Table 13 Direct Versus Indirect AutoFS Map Types (continued)
Indirect MapDirect Map
internal mount table, /etc/mnttab. This can cause the
mount table to become very large.
mount table, /etc/mnttab. Additional entries are created
when the directories are actually mounted. The mount table
takes up no more space than necessary, because only
mounted directories appear in it.
Configuring AutoFS Direct and Indirect Mounts
A direct map is an automount mount-point. It creates a direct association between a mount-point
on the client and a directory on the server. Direct maps have the absolute path name. The
automounts configured in a direct map can be mounted in various places in the local filesystem;
they need not be located under the same parent directory.
An indirect map uses the key to establish a connection between a mount-point on the client and a
directory on the server. Indirect maps are useful for accessing specific file systems, such as home
directories. The automounts configured in an indirect map are mounted under the same local parent
directory.
Figure 9 shows the difference between direct mounts and indirect mounts on an NFS client.
Figure 9 Difference Between Direct Mounts and Indirect Mounts
In the Mounts in a Direct Map figure, mounts are configured in various places in the local filesystem
and not located under the same parent directory. In the Mounts in an Indirect Map figure, all the
mounts are configured under the same parent directory.
CAUTION: Any filesystems that are being managed by AutoFS should never be manually mounted
or unmounted. Even if the mount or unmount operation appears to complete successfully, the
resulting change of state to the AutoFS managed filesystem can lead to disruptive or unpredictable
results, including but not limited to: commands hanging or not returning expected results, and
applications failing due to their dependencies on those mounted filesystems. A reboot may be
necessary to resolve these issues.
Automounting a Remote Directory Using a Direct Map
This section describes how to automount a remote directory using a direct map.
To mount a remote directory using a direct map, follow these steps:
1. If you are using local files for maps, use an editor to edit the master map in the /etc directory.
The master map is commonly called /etc/auto_master. If you are using NIS, open the
master map on the NIS master server.
If you are using LDAP, the map must be modified on the LDAP server. For information on
modifying maps, see the LDAP-UX Client Services B.04.00 Administrator’s Guide
(J4269-90064).
If the direct map you just modified is not listed in the master map, add the following entry to
the master map:
Configuring AutoFS Direct and Indirect Mounts 59