Networking Guide
Chapter 13, Configuring the NFS automounter

Creating indirect automount maps

Creating indirect automount maps

The syntax for an indirect map is:

key [ mount_options ] location [ location ] . . .

A line whose first character is ``#'' is treated as a comment and everything that follows until the end of the line is ignored. A backslash at the end of a line permits splitting long lines into shorter ones. For details on this syntax see ``About automount maps''.

The following is a sample indirect map called /etc/auto.doc, based on Figure 13-2, ``An example of indirect mounting using automount''.

   spellers        -r      madrid:/doc.stuff/spellers
   roff            -r      oslo:/doc/bin/roff
Clearly, the key in the indirect map requires more information, specifically the actual location of the mount points, spellers and roff. The appropriate level of qualification can be provided by either:
In either case, the mount directory /doc_tools qualifies the entries in the indirect map /etc/auto.doc. The end result is that the filesystem /doc.stuff/spellers from the machine madrid is mounted on /doc_tools/spellers and the filesystem /doc/bin/roff from the machine oslo is mounted on /doc_tools/roff.

The automount monitored directory /doc_tools is a virtual directory that may only contain automounted directories. If a /doc_tools directory existed before the mount, all files and directories under the preexisting /doc_tools are hidden while the virtual /doc_tools exists.