Mount Point /net

Autofs mounts under the directory /net all the entries in the special map -hosts. The map is a built-in map that uses only the hosts database. Suppose that the computer gumbo is in the hosts database and it exports any of its file systems. The following command changes the current directory to the root directory of the computer gumbo.

% cd /net/gumbo

Autofs can mount only the exported file systems of host gumbo, that is, those file systems on a server that are available to network users instead of those file systems on a local disk. Therefore, all the files and directories on gumbo might not be available through /net/gumbo.

With the /net method of access, the server name is in the path and is location dependent. If you want to move an exported file system from one server to another, the path might no longer work. Instead, you should set up an entry in a map specifically for the file system you want rather than use /net.

Autofs checks the server's export list only at mount time. After a server's file systems are mounted, autofs does not check with the server again until the server's file systems are automatically unmounted. Therefore, newly exported file systems are not “seen” until the file systems on the client are unmounted and then remounted.