NFS Services Administrator's Guide

Configuring and Administering AutoFS
Automounting a Remote Directory Using an Indirect Map
Chapter 3 121
Notes on Indirect Maps
The local_subdirectory specified in the indirect map is the
lowest-level subdirectory in the local directory pathname. For example, if
you are mounting a remote directory on /nfs/apps/draw, the
local_subdirectory specified in the indirect map will be draw.
The
local_parent_directory specified in the master map consists of
directories, except the lowest-level subdirectory in the local directory
pathname. For example, if you are mounting a remote directory on
/nfs/apps/draw, the
local_parent_directory specified in the master
map will be /nfs/apps.
IMPORTANT Ensure that local_parent_directory and local_subdirectory are
not already created. AutoFS creates them when it mounts the remote
directory. If these directories exist, their files and directories in them are
hidden when the remote directory is mounted.
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 might attempt to mount over
itself. As a result, unexpected behavior can occur. 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.
The mount options that you can specify in the AutoFS maps are the same
ones that you use for the type of filesystem 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 a list of mount options, see “Changing the Default Mount Options” on
page 83. You cannot use the bg option for an automounted directory. The
mount options configured in the indirect map override the ones in the
master map if there is a conflict.
You can configure indirect automounts in the same indirect map only if
their
local_parent_directory , as specified in the master map, is the
same. For example, indirect mounts with the local mount points
/nfs/apps/draw and /nfs/apps/word can be configured in the same
indirect map.