In: Categories » Computers and technology » Linux Commands » Using autofs to mount partitions across the network
Because the way you’re using autofs to mount partitions across the network relies on NFS, before using it you’ll need to be sure you can do normal NFS mounts. Once you have this working, just make a simple change to your startup scripts to deploy the autofs service. The easiest way to do this is to run the redhat-config-services utility to enable the daemon. Simply start the configuration tool and mark the autofs check box as shown.
If you need to start autofs by hand, run this command:
[root@tedford /root]# service autofs start
Use this same command to stop the autofs daemon, by changing the start option to stop. You can also update the configuration files and have the daemon reread them by replacing the start option to reread.
Configuring /etc/auto.master
The autofs service’s primary configuration file is /etc/auto.master. The format of this file is as follows:
#
# Sample /etc/auto.master file
# (lines which begin with a '#' are comments)
#
/mount/point map-file global-options
/home auto.home
/usr/local auto.local
/misc auto.misc
The first column tells you the mount point; the second column lists the files containing details about the mapping for that mount point; and the last column contains any NFS options you want to apply to all mounts. The map files look a little different from the auto.master file. For example, here’s the auto.misc file:
#
# auto.misc
#
# This is an automounter map and it has the following format
# key [ -mount-options-separated-by-comma ] location
# Details may be found in the autofs(5) manpage
kernel -ro,soft,intr ftp.kernel.org:/pub/linux
cd -fstype=iso9660,ro :/dev/cdrom
# the following entries are samples to pique your imagination
#floppy -fstype=auto :/dev/fd0
#floppy -fstype=ext2 :/dev/fd0
#e2floppy -fstype=ext2 :/dev/fd0
#jaz -fstype=ext2 :/dev/sdc1
Here, the first column is the key, the second column holds the mount options, and the last column is the location from which to mount. If the location entry begins with a colon, it’s a signal to the system that the mount is local. Thus, /misc/cd would mount /dev/cdrom with the following mount options:
-fstype=iso9660,ro
NOTE
Unlike NFS, which requires that the directory already exist in order for you to mount it, the autofs service does not. In the case of the /misc mount point, all that needs to exist is the /misc directory. All subdirectories would be created by the autofs daemon as needed. If you change any of the map files while autofs is running, you’ll need to restart the autofs service so that it can reread the configuration files. This is done by using autofs as follows:
[root@tedford /root]# /etc/init.d/autofs reload
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