Administrative Tasks Involving Maps

The following tables describe several of the factors you need to be aware of when administering autofs maps. Which type of map and which name service you choose change the mechanism that you need to use to make changes to the autofs maps.

The following table describes the types of maps and their uses.

Table 15–6 Types of autofs Maps and Their Uses

Type of Map	Use
Master	Associates a directory with a map
Direct	Directs autofs to specific file systems
Indirect	Directs autofs to reference-oriented file systems

The following table describes how to make changes to your autofs environment, based on your name service.

Table 15–7 Map Maintenance

Name Service	Method
Local files	Text editor
NIS	make files
NIS+	nistbladm

The next table tells you when to run the automount command, depending on the modification you have made to the type of map. For example, if you have made an addition or a deletion to a direct map, you need to run the automount command on the local system to allow the change to become effective. However, if you've modified an existing entry, you do not need to run the automount command for the change to become effective.

Table 15–8 When to Run the automount Command

Type of Map	Restart automount?
	Addition or Deletion	Modification
auto_master	Y	Y
direct	Y	N
indirect	N	N