NFS Services Administrator's Guide (B.11.31.02) January 2008

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:
/- direct_map_name [mount_options]
2. If you are using local files for maps, use an editor to open or create a direct map in the /etc
directory. The direct map is commonly called /etc/auto_direct. Add an entry to the
direct map with the following syntax:
local_directory [mount_options] server:remote_directory
If you are using NIS or LDAP to manage maps, add an entry to the direct map on the NIS
master server or the LDAP directory.
3. If you are using NIS to manage maps, rebuild the maps and push them to the slave servers.
For more information on management of NIS maps, see the NIS Administrator’s Guide
(5991-7656).
4. On each host that uses the map you have modified, enter the following command to force
AutoFS to read the modified map:
/usr/sbin/automount
IMPORTANT: Do not automount a remote directory on a local directory, which is a symbolic
link.
Ensure that the local mount-point specified in the AutoFS map entry is different from the exported
directory on the NFS server. If it is the same, and the NFS server also acts as an NFS client and
uses AutoFS with these map entries, the exported directory can attempt to mount over itself.
This can result in unexpected behavior. A directory might also attempt to mount over itself if
you use a single set of AutoFS maps that are distributed using NIS or LDAP, or are in a High
Availability environment.
Consider the following sample entries in the /etc/auto_master, and /etc/auto_direct
maps:
# Contents of the /etc/auto_master sample map
/net -hosts -nosuid,soft,nobrowse
/- auto_direct
# Contents of the /etc/auto_direct sample map:
/tmp/export auto23:/tmp/export
If the NFS server also acts as an NFS client, for example auto23 acts as the NFS server and client,
and the AutoFS map references the NFS server and tries to overlay a VxFS path, it may result in
unexpected behavior.
Notes on Direct Maps
The mount options that you can specify in the AutoFS maps are the same options that you use
for the type of filesystems you attempt to automount. For example, if the filesystem type is NFS,
then the mount options you use are identical to the ones used for standard NFS mounted
directories. For more information on the different mount options, see “Changing the Default
Mount Options” (page 44).
You cannot use the bg option for an automounted directory. The mount options configured in
the direct map override the ones in the master map, if there is a conflict.
Configuring AutoFS Direct and Indirect Mounts 67