Automount Terminology
This section describes terms that are specific to the automounter.
Automounter
 | The automounter has three components. |
The automountd daemon and the automount program are started at boot time by the /etc/init.d/autofs script. The daemon runs in the background and automatically mounts and unmounts NFS file systems as requested by autofs. The autofs file system sends request to the automount program, which processes the requests and then terminates, leaving the automountd daemon to do the work. Information provided in maps in the /etc directory with the prefix auto_ is used to mount and unmount directories and subdirectories that are listed in the automount maps. The term automounter in this context refers to the automount programs and the functionality that they provide, and the term automounting describes the activities of the automount programs and autofs. See “Components of the Automounter” for more information about the automounter components.
Automount Maps
NOTE
SunOS 4.x automount maps used the auto. prefix naming convention. You do not need to rename your SunOS 4.x automount maps for them to be compatible with the Solaris automounter. The Solaris automounter looks first for files with an auto_prefix. If none are found, it looks for files with an auto. prefix.
The Master Map
The master map, named auto_master, is the master file consulted by the automounter when the system starts up or whenever you run the automount program to register changes you have made to the auto_master map or to any other automount maps. The auto_master map contains the default mount points /net and /home and the names of the direct or indirect maps that the automounter consults.
Indirect and Direct Maps
The indirect and direct maps contain detailed information that the automounter uses to mount and unmount the file systems. You specify indirect maps with a simple path name; you specify a direct map with an absolute path name. See “Indirect Maps” and “The Direct Map” for more information.
The most commonly used indirect maps are the auto_master map and the home directory map. The home directory map contains the mount point and the names of the home directories that are to be mounted automatically.