Autofs Features
Autofs works with file systems that are specified in the local name space. This information can be maintained in LDAP or local files. Autofs supports the following features:
-
A fully multithreaded version of the
automountd
feature capability makesautofs
reliable. This feature enables concurrent servicing of multiple mounts, which prevents the service from hanging if a server is unavailable. -
The
automountd
feature also provides on-demand mounting. Only the top file system is mounted. Other file systems that are related to this mount point are mounted when needed. -
The
autofs
service supports the “browsability” of indirect maps. This support enables a user to see which directories could be mounted without having to actually mount each file system. A-nobrowse
option ensures that large file systems, such as/net
and/home
, are not automatically browsable. Also, you can turn offautofs
browsability on each client by using the-n
option with theautomount
command. For more information about different methods to disableautofs
browsability, see Disabling Autofs Browsability.