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autofsd(8)
NAME
  autofsd, autofs - Automatically and transparently mounts and unmounts NFS
  file systems

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

OPTIONS
  -d  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.

  -v  Logs verbose output.

  -D name=value
      Defines an autofsd environment variable by assigning value to the
      variable.

  directory -null
      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
  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
  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
  Commands: autofsmount(8), automount(8), mount(8)

  Others: sys_attrs_autofs(5)

  Network Administration: Services

Index for Section 8

Alphabetical listing for A

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