NFS Services Administrator's Guide (B1031-90072, March 2011)

/etc/default/autofs file, AutoFS uses the current value of the environment variable on the
local host.
For information on some of the pre-defined environment variables, see automount(1M).
Using Wildcard Characters as Shortcuts in AutoFS Maps
Using wildcard characters makes it very easy to mount all the directories from a remote server to
an identically named directory on the local host.
Consider the following guidelines while using wildcard characters as shortcuts:
• Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard character in an indirect map, to represent the local
subdirectory if you want the local subdirectory to be the same as the remote system name, or
the remote subdirectory.
You cannot use the asterisk (*) wildcard in a direct map.
• Use an ampersand (&) in a direct or an indirect map as the remote system name or the remote
subdirectory. The entry in the local directory name field replaces the ampersand. If you have
used an asterisk to represent the local subdirectory, then the entry that replaces the asterisk
(*) in the local subdirectory field also replaces the ampersand (&) in the remote system name,
or remote subdirectory field.
Notes on Using Wildcard Characters as Shortcuts in Maps
The following example illustrates the automounting of the users’ home directories. The home
directories are physically located on the NFS server, basil, under the remote directory
/export/home. On the local NFS client, the home directories are mounted under /home.
The following entry from the /etc/auto_master master map lists the indirect map,
/etc/auto_home:
# /etc/auto_master file
# local mount-point map name mount options
/home /etc/auto_home -nosuid
The following line from the /etc/auto_home indirect map mounts the user's home directories
on demand:
# /etc/auto_home file
# local mount-point mount options remote server:directory
* basil:/export/home/&
The user's home directory is configured in the /etc/passwd file as /home/username. For
example, the home directory of the user terry is /home/terry. When Terry logs in, AutoFS
looks up the /etc/auto_home map and substitutes terry for both the asterisk and the ampersand.
AutoFS then mounts Terry’s home directory from /export/home/terry on the server, basil,
to /home/terry on the local NFS client.
You can use the ampersand character to represent both the remote server and the remote
subdirectory, in the same line of the indirect map. For example, if the user’s home directory is
physically located on many different servers, but the directory under which the home directory is
located is called /export/home/servername on all the servers, the following line in the
/etc/auto_home map mounts all the user's home directories from any server:
* &:/export/home/&
If the home directory of the user terry is configured in the /etc/passwd file as
/home/basil/terry, AutoFS mounts the remote directory /export/home/basil from the
server, basil, on the local directory /home/basil when Terry logs in.
Using Wildcard Characters as Shortcuts in AutoFS Maps 65