Using Wildcard Characters as Shortcuts in AutoFS Maps

Using wildcard characters makes it very easy to mount all the directories from a remote server to an identically named directory on the local host.

Consider the following guidelines while using wildcard characters as shortcuts:

Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard character in an indirect map, to represent the local subdirectory if you want the local subdirectory to be the same as the remote system name, or the remote subdirectory.
You cannot use the asterisk (*) wildcard in a direct map.
Use an ampersand (&) in a direct or an indirect map as the remote system name or the remote subdirectory. The entry in the local directory name field replaces the ampersand. If you have used an asterisk to represent the local subdirectory, then the entry that replaces the asterisk (*) in the local subdirectory field also replaces the ampersand (&) in the remote system name, or remote subdirectory field.

Notes on Using Wildcard Characters as Shortcuts in Maps

The following example illustrates the automounting of the users’ home directories. The home directories are physically located on the NFS server, basil, under the remote directory /export/home. On the local NFS client, the home directories are mounted under /home.

The following entry from the /etc/auto_master master map lists the indirect map, /etc/auto_home:

# /etc/auto_master file
# local mount-point       map name        mount options

/home                     /etc/auto_home      -nosuid

The following line from the /etc/auto_home indirect map mounts the user's home directories on demand:

# /etc/auto_home file
# local mount-point   mount options  remote server:directory

*                                       basil:/export/home/&

The user's home directory is configured in the /etc/passwd file as /home/username. For example, the home directory of the user terry is /home/terry. When Terry logs in, AutoFS looks up the /etc/auto_home map and substitutes terry for both the asterisk and the ampersand. AutoFS then mounts Terry’s home directory from /export/home/terry on the server, basil, to /home/terry on the local NFS client.

You can use the ampersand character to represent both the remote server and the remote subdirectory, in the same line of the indirect map. For example, if the user’s home directory is physically located on many different servers, but the directory under which the home directory is located is called /export/home/servername on all the servers, the following line in the /etc/auto_home map mounts all the user's home directories from any server:

* &:/export/home/&

If the home directory of the user terry is configured in the /etc/passwd file as /home/basil/terry, AutoFS mounts the remote directory /export/home/basil from the server, basil, on the local directory /home/basil when Terry logs in.

The line with the asterisk must be the last line in an indirect map. AutoFS reads the lines in the indirect map sequentially until it finds a match for the requested local subdirectory. If asterisk (*) matches any subdirectory, AutoFS stops reading at the line with the asterisk.

For example, if the /etc/auto_home map contains the following lines,

*           basil:/export/home/& 
charlie     thyme:/export/home/charlie

AutoFS attempts to mount /export/home/charlie from the host, basil. If the asterisk is a match for charlie, AutoFS looks no further and never reads the second line. However, if the /etc/auto_home map contains the following lines,

charlie     thyme:/export/home/charlie 
*           basil:/export/home/&

AutoFS mounts Charlie’s home directory from host thyme and other home directories from host basil.

Using Wildcard Characters as Shortcuts in AutoFS Maps

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Notes on Using Wildcard Characters as Shortcuts in Maps