Inconsistent automount behavior with /net (auto.net)

This document (3174912) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

Situation

When autofs 4.x and it's supplied auto.net script is in use, there is some inconsistency in how the mounts take place.

When a user changes directory (cd) to /net/server1, if server1 only has one export (for example, /ex1) then server1:/ex1 is mounted directly in /net/server1. In other words, a directory listing of /net/server1 would show the contents of ex1. It would not show the ex1 subdir entry.

But if server1 has two or more exports (for example, /ex1 and /ex2) then ex1 is mounted at /net/server1/ex1 and ex2 is mounted at /net/server1/ex2.

The end result is that individual mount points paths can vary just because the total number of exports on the remote server changes. This can lead to unexpected inconsistencies.

Resolution

A new option has been created to the automounter in order to force consistency. In /etc/auto.master add "-multi" as an option. For example:

/net /etc/auto.net -multi

This will cause automounter to mount from single-export servers in the same way as the multi-export server. It other words, both will create the full remote subdir path under /net/servername instead of mounting directly in /net/servername.

For this new option to be recognized, autofs must be updated.

SLE 10 (first shipping) contains autofs-4.1.4-23.4, which does not contain the new feature. SP1 contain autofs-4.1.4-23.14, which does contain the feature.

Another way to check for this feature (besides just trying it out) would be:

rpm -qi autofs

If the autofs package present is *newer* than 4.1.4-23.4 *and* has a build date of September 7 2006 or later, this feature should be present.

Disclaimer

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