Autofs

From SlackWiki

Note: This information is obsolete as of Slackware 12. You can now auto-mount using HAL. Look here: HAL in Slackware 12

THIS IS WORK IN PROGRESS, IM WORKING ON IT AT THE MOMENT, PLEASE DO NOT USE IT.. ;)

Subject: autofs setup
Author: main2
Why: it should be an easy task to setup 'auto-mounting'
When: Sun Mar 20 12:44:46 CDT 2005
Running: Slackware-10.2 with a 2.6.15.5 kernel

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In this article i will try to explain you how to setup autofs with basic devices like usb-sticks / and maybe even FTP etc in the future.. (feel free to extend, or update this wiki with usefull/new information)

autofs is build into the kernel and enabled by default > 10.2, in short: its job is to spawn and control the automount daemons, which on its term are responcible for providing you access to the filesystem of a device, or a FTP / SMB share. (if this doesnt say you anything, dont worry - just continue reading)

Basic information you should know about autofs, from the autofs man:

autofs will consult a configuration file /etc/auto.master (see auto.master(5)) to find mount points on the system. For each of those mount points a automount(8) process is started with the appropriate parameters. You can check the active mount points for the automounter with the /autofs status command. If the auto.master configuration file contains a line of the form

as you can read, "with the /autofs status command.." -> this script is not installed by default on slackware 10.2 you should obtain it trough http://www.linuxpackages.net/pkg_details.php?id=8570 -> (the name of the package is 'autofs-config') and install it before continuing
After installing the package you should have the '/etc/rc.d/rc.autofs' script Link title