NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       autofsd,  autofs  - Automatically and transparently mounts
       and unmounts NFS file systems

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

       /usr/sbin/autofsd [-dv] [-D name=value] [directory -null]

OPTIONS    [Toc]    [Back]

       Enables debugging. When debugging is enabled,  the  daemon
       does  not  disassociate itself from the current tty.  Messages
 that trace autofsd activity are written to  standard
       output.  Logs verbose output.  Defines an autofsd environment
 variable by assigning value to the variable.   Specifies
  the full pathname of the mount point for an indirect
       map entry that is to be ignored.

              You must specify excluded master map and direct map
              entries  by using the autofsmount command. See Special
 Maps in autofsmount(8).

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       The autofsd daemon automatically and transparently  mounts
       and  unmounts NFS file systems on an as-needed basis. Like
       the automount daemon, it provides another  alternative  to
       using the /etc/fstab file for mounting NFS file systems on
       client machines. However, AutoFS is  more  efficient  than
       the  automount  daemon because it requires less communication
 between the kernel and the user space daemon.

       The autofsd daemon also provides higher availability  than
       the automount daemon. Although autofsd must be running for
       mounts or unmounts to be performed, if  it  is  killed  or
       becomes  unavailable, exisiting auto-mounted NFS file systems
 continue to be available.

       The autofsd daemon can be started from the command line or
       from   the   /sbin/rc3.d/nfs   script,   which  reads  the
       /etc/rc.config.common file.  Once started, it remains dormant
  until  a user attempts to access a directory (or any
       file or directory in  the  directory  hierarchy)  that  is
       associated  with  an AutoFS map.  The daemon then consults
       the appropriate map and mounts  the  NFS  file  system  as
       specified.

       AutoFS  maps  indicate where to find the file system to be
       mounted and the mount options to use.  The  names  of  the
       maps  are passed to the autofsd daemon through the autofsmount
 command.  For more information about AutoFS maps and
       the  autofsmount  command, see autofsmount(8) and the Network
   Administration:   Services   manual.   Also,    see
       sys_attrs_autofs(5) for information on tuning AutoFS.

                                  Note

       The  autofsmount program reads AutoFS maps at startup.  If
       you make any changes to the maps after startup,  you  must
       execute  the  autofsmount command again to incorporate the
       changes.

       By default, AutoFS uses UDP transport.  If the tcp  option
       is specified in a map, AutoFS attempts to use TCP.  If TCP
       is not available, AutoFS then reverts to UDP.

RESTRICTIONS    [Toc]    [Back]

       There is no support in the autofsd daemon that  is  analogous
 to the SIGTERM support in the automount command.

       If  a  file  system  is locally served, the autofsd daemon
       creates a symbolic link  on  the  system  instead  of  NFS
       mounting  the directory.  If locally serving the directory
       would result in a circular link,  the  daemon  selects  an
       external server (if available).

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       Commands: autofsmount(8), automount(8), mount(8)

       Others: sys_attrs_autofs(5)

       Network Administration: Services



                                                       autofsd(8)