NFS Services Administrator's Guide (B.11.31.04) March 2009

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 53).
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.
You can configure all the direct automounts in the same map. Most users use the file
name, /etc/auto_direct, for their direct map. Following is the syntax for a direct
map:
local mount-point mount options remote server:directory
where:
local mount-point The path name of the mount-point
mount options Options you want to apply to this mount.
remote server:directory Location of the directory, on the server, that is to
be mounted.
If you plan to use NIS or LDAP to manage maps, there can be only one direct map in
your configuration.
Configuring AutoFS Direct and Indirect Mounts 83