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

NOTE: The -null entry must precede the included map entry to be effective.
Using Executable Maps
An executable map is a map whose entries are generated dynamically by a program
or a script. AutoFS determines whether a map is executable, by checking whether the
execute bit is set in its permissions string. If a map is not executable, ensure that its
execute bit is not set. An executable map is an indirect map.
When the AutoFS daemon locates a map whose execute bit is set, then instead of
opening the file and searching for an entry, the daemon executes the file as a program
and passes the key to be located within the map as an argument. Executable AutoFS
maps return a map entry on the standard output. If they cannot supply a map entry
for the key, they do not return anything. You can list executable AutoFS maps in the
master map or include them in the local AutoFS map files. However, executable maps
cannot be used with NIS and LDAP.
For example, an executable map implemented as a shell script, emulates the AutoFS
built-in -hosts map for /net. It obtains a list of exported file systems from an NFS
server (its name is the key argument). It then formats the path names into a
multiple-mount map entry and sorts the list to order the mounts correctly into a
top-down hierarchy, as follows:
!/bin/sh
Server=$1
showmount -e $1 | awk ‘NR > 1 {print $1 “\t'$Server’:” $1 ” \\ “}’ | sort
Advanced AutoFS Administration
This section presents advanced AutoFS concepts that enable you to improve mounting
efficiency and also help make map building easier. This section addresses:
• “Automounting Multiple Directories (Hierarchical Mounts)” (page 94)
• “Configuring Replicated Servers for an AutoFS Directory” (page 95)
• “Including a Map in Another Map” (page 97)
• “Creating a Hierarchy of AutoFS Maps” (page 98)
Automounting Multiple Directories (Hierarchical Mounts)
AutoFS enables you to automount multiple directories simultaneously.
Use an editor to create an entry with the following format in a direct or indirect map,
and if needed, create the auto_master entry:
local_dir /local_subdirectory
[-options] \ server:remote_directory \
/local_subdirectory [-options]
server:remote_directory \
...
94 Configuring and Administering AutoFS