NAME

       automount - manage autofs mount points

SYNOPSIS

       automount [options] [master_map]

DESCRIPTION

       The  automount  program  is  used  to  manage  mount  points for autofs, the inlined Linux
       automounter.  automount works by reading the auto.master(5) map and sets up  mount  points
       for  each entry in the master map allowing them to be automatically mounted when accessed.
       The file systems are then automatically umounted after a period of inactivity.

OPTIONS

       -h, --help
              Print brief help on program usage.

       -p, --pid-file
              Write the pid of the daemon to the specified file.

       -t, --timeout
              Set the global minimum timeout, in seconds, until directories  are  unmounted.  The
              default is 10 minutes. Setting the timeout to zero disables umounts completely.

       -n <seconds>, --negative-timeout <seconds>
              Set the default timeout for caching failed key lookups. The default is 60 seconds.

       -v, --verbose
              Enables  logging  of  general  status  and progress messages for all autofs managed
              mounts.

       -d, --debug
              Enables logging of general  status  and  progress  messages  as  well  as  debuging
              messages for all autofs managed mounts.

       -Dvariable=value
              Define  a  global  macro  substitution variable. Global definitions are over-ridden
              macro definitions of the same name specified in mount entries.

       -f, --foreground
              Run the daemon in the foreground and log to stderr instead of syslog."

       -r, --random-multimount-selection
              Enables the use of ramdom selection when choosing a host from a list of  replicated
              servers.

       -m, --dumpmaps
              Dump configured automounter maps, then exit.

       -O, --global-options
              Allows  the  specification of global mount options used for all master map entries.
              These options will either replace or be appened to options given in  a  master  map
              entry depending on the APPEND_OPTIONS configuration setting.

       -V, --version
              Display the version number, then exit.

       -l, --set-log-priority priority path [path,...]
              Set  the  daemon  log  priority  to  the specified value.  Valid values include the
              numbers 0-7, or the strings emerg, alert, crit,  err,  warning,  notice,  info,  or
              debug.  Log level debug will log everything, log levels info, warn (or warning), or
              notice with enable the daemon verbose logging.  Any  other  level  will  set  basic
              logging.  Note  that  enabling  debug  or  verbose  logging  in  the  autofs global
              configuration will override dynamic log level  changes.  For  example,  if  verbose
              logging  is  set  in  the  configuration  then  attempting  to set logging to basic
              logging, by using alert, crit,  err  or  emerg  won't  stop  the  verbose  logging.
              However,  setting  logging  to  debug will lead to everything (debug logging) being
              logged witch can then also be disabled, returning the daemon  to  verbose  logging.
              This  option  can be specified to change the logging priority of an already running
              automount process.

       The path argument corresponds to the automounted path name as specified in the master map.

       -C, --dont-check-daemon
              Don't check if the daemon is currently running (see NOTES).

       -F, --force
              Force an unlink umount of existing mounts under autofs managed mount points  during
              startup.  This  can  cause  problems  for processes with working directories within
              these mounts (see NOTES).

ARGUMENTS

       automount takes one optional argument, the name of the master map to use.

       master_map
              Location for autofs master map that defines autofs managed  mount  points  and  the
              mount maps they will use. The default is auto.master.

NOTES

       If  the automount daemon catches a USR1 signal, it will umount all currently unused autofs
       managed mounted file systems and continue running (forced expire).  If it catches the TERM
       signal it will umount all unused autofs managed mounted file systems and exit if there are
       no remaining busy file systems. If autofs has been compiled with the option to ignore busy
       mounts  on  exit it will exit leaving any busy mounts in place otherwise busy file systems
       will not be umounted and autofs will not exit.  Alternatively, if autofs has been compiled
       with  the option to enable forced shutdown then a USR2 signal to the daemon will cause all
       mounts to be umounted and any busy mounts to be forcibly umounted, including autofs  mount
       point  directories (summary execution). Note that the forced umount is an unlink operation
       and the actual umount will not  happen  in  the  kernel  until  active  file  handles  are
       released.   The  daemon also responds to a HUP signal which triggers an update of the maps
       for each mount point.

       If any autofs mount point directories are busy when the daemon is sent an exit signal  the
       daemon  will  not  exit.  The exception to this is if autofs has been built with configure
       options to either ignore busy mounts at exit or force umount at exit. If the  ignore  busy
       mounts at exit option is used the filesystems will be left in a catatonic (non-functional)
       state and can be manually umounted when they become unused. If the force  umount  at  exit
       option  is used the filesystems will be umounted but the mount will not be released by the
       kernel until they are no longer in use by the processes that held them busy.  If automount
       managed  filesystems are found mounted when autofs is started they will be recoverd unless
       they are no longer present in the map in which case they need to umounted manually.

       If the option to disable the check to see if the daemon is  already  running  is  used  be
       aware  that  autofs  currently  may  not function correctly for certain types of automount
       maps.  The  mounts  of  the  separate  daemons  might  interfere  with  one  another.  The
       implications of running multiple daemon instances needs to be checked and tested before we
       can say this is supported.

       If the option to force an unlink of mounts at startup is used then processes whose working
       directory is within unlinked automounted directories will not get the correct pwd from the
       system. This is because, after the mount is unlinked from the mount  tree,  anything  that
       needs  to  walk back up the mount tree to construct a path, such as getcwd(2) and the proc
       filesystem /proc/<pid>/cwd,  cannot  work  because  the  point  from  which  the  path  is
       constructed has been detached from the mount tree.

SEE ALSO

       autofs(5), autofs(8), auto.master(5), mount(8).  autofs_ldap_auth.conf(5)

BUGS

       Don't know, I've fixed everything I know about.

       The documentation could be better.

       Please  report  other bugs along with a detailed description to <autofs@linux.kernel.org>.
       For   instructions   on   how   to   join   the    list    and    for    archives    visit
       http://linux.kernel.org/mailman/listinfo/autofs

AUTHOR

       H. Peter Anvin <hpa@transmeta.com> and Ian Kent <raven@themaw.net>.

                                           12 Apr 2006                               AUTOMOUNT(8)