Occasionally, you might encounter problems with autofs. This section should make the problem-solving process easier. It is divided into two subsections.
This section presents a list of the error messages autofs generates. The list is divided in two parts:
Error messages generated by the verbose (-v) option of automount
Error messages that might appear at any time
Each error message is followed by a description and probable cause of the message.
When troubleshooting, start the autofs programs with the verbose (-v) option, otherwise, you might experience problems without knowing why.
The following paragraphs are labeled with the error message you are likely to see if autofs fails, and a description of the possible problem.
While scanning a direct map, autofs has found an entry key without a prefixed /. Keys in direct maps must be full path names.
bad key key in indirect map mapname
While scanning an indirect map, autofs has found an entry key containing a /. Indirect map keys must be simple names--not path names.
The mount daemon on the server refuses to provide a file handle for server:pathname. Check the export table on server.
Autofs was unable to create a mount point required for a mount. This most frequently occurs when attempting to hierarchically mount all of a server's exported file systems. A required mount point can exist only in a file system that cannot be mounted (it cannot be exported) and it cannot be created because the exported parent file system is exported read-only.
Autofs has discovered an entry in an automount map that contains leading spaces. This is usually an indication of an improperly continued map entry, for example:
fake /blat frobz:/usr/frotz |
In this example, the warning is generated when autofs encounters the second line because the first line should be terminated with a backslash (\).
The required map cannot be located. This message is produced only when the -v option is used. Check the spelling and path name of the map name.
remount server:pathname on mountpoint: server not responding
Autofs has failed to remount a file system it previously unmounted.
Autofs is attempting to mount over an existing mount point. This means there is an internal error in autofs (an anomaly).
Automounter mount point must be given as full path name. Check the spelling and path name of the mount point.
Autofs does not allow its mount points to have a hierarchical relationship. An autofs mount point must not be contained within another automounted file system.
Autofs attempted to contact but received no response.
Error getting export list from hostname. This indicates a server or network problem.
The map entry is malformed, and autofs cannot interpret it. Recheck the entry; perhaps there are characters in it that need escaping.
Error in looking up an entry in a NIS map. This can indicate NIS problems.
Autofs failed to do a mount. This can indicate a server or network problem.
Autofs cannot mount itself on mountpoint because it's not a directory. Check the spelling and path name of the mount point.
Autofs cannot send a query packet to a server in a list of replicated file system locations.
Autofs cannot receive replies from any of the servers in a list of replicated file system locations.
All these error messages indicate problems attempting to ping servers for a replicated file system. This can indicate a network problem.
Autofs failed to get pathconf information for pathname (see the fpathconf(2) man page).
Autofs is unable to contact the mount daemon on server that provides the information to pathconf().
If the /etc/auto* files have the execute bit set, then the automounter will try to execute the maps, which creates messages like:
/etc/auto_home: +auto_home: not found
In this case, the auto_home file has incorrect permissions. Each entry in the file will generate an error message much like this one. The permissions to the file should be reset by typing the following command:
# chmod 644 /etc/auto_home |