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

Figure 3-7 Home Directories Automounted with Wildcards
Special Maps
There are two types of special maps: -hosts and -null.
By default, the -hosts map is used with the /net directory and assumes that the map
entry is the hostname of the NFS server. The automountd daemon dynamically creates
a map entry from the server's list of exported filesystems. For example, a reference to
/net/Casey/usr initiates an automatic mount of all the exported filesystems from
Casey which can be mounted by the client. References to the directory under /net/
Casey refers to the corresponding directory relative to the root directory of Casey.
The -null map, when included in a map entry, cancels a map for the directory
indicated. This is especially useful in the AutoFS master map, /etc/auto_master,
for cancelling entries that would otherwise be inherited from the +auto_master
include entry. To be effective, the -null entry must be inserted before the included
map entry. For information on how to include a map in another map, see “Including
a Map in Another Map” (page 97).
Automounting All Exported Directories from Any Host Using the -hosts Map
To automount all exported directories using the -hosts map, follow these steps:
1. If you are using local files for AutoFS maps, use an editor to add the following
entry to the /etc/auto_master master map file:
/net -hosts -nosuid,soft,nobrowse
NOTE: The nobrowse option in the local default master map file for a newly
installed system is specified for the /net map.
If you are using NIS to manage AutoFS maps, add the previous entry to the master
map file on the NIS master server. Rebuild the map and push it out to the slave
servers. For more information on NIS and NIS maps, see the NIS Administrator’s
Guide (5991-2187). If you are using LDAP, add the entry to the LDAP directory.
2. On each host that uses the map you modified, enter the following command to
force AutoFS to read the modified map:
/usr/sbin/automount
Special Maps 91