Many thanks for the help and excellent responses I received. I'll summarize those below, but
first to the heart of the issue. While wrestling with this beast this morning I tried rebooting
(as suggested by Ian Mortimer) then ran the start-up script; I just happened to have the console
log displayed at the time. It said: "gammma automount[661]: Last line has no newline:
/-^I^I/etc/auto.direct^I-ro,intr". So I added a carriage return to both map files, ran the
startup script again and automounter fired right up -- it seems to be working fine, just like I
knew it would. Ahh, success! It's so much nicer than frustration.
Summary of Responses:
i. rye <rye_at_jtasc.acom.mil> said it sounded like a problem with one of the maps.
ii. Ralph Rodriguez <rrodrigu_at_ssc.wisc.edu> gave the thorough response listed below.
Here are the steps I used to set up automounter.
1. Set up the proper configuration in /etc/rc.config.
Specifically:
AUTOMOUNT="1"
export AUTOMOUNT
AUTOMOUNT_ARGS="-tl 1800 -tw 900 -f /etc/auto/auto.master"
export AUTOMOUNT_ARGS
The AUTOMOUNT="1" equation tells the startup files that you want
to do automounting. Following the -f argument is a path to the
automount master file. Values for -tl and -tw will vary for your
site, depending on how you use these file systems. We find that
these values work for us (the default values cause the system to
do ALOT of automount activity). Read the man page about these
arguments and try out some reasonable numbers.
2. Set up the master map. Here is a stripped down version of
ours:
% cat /etc/auto/auto.master
/home /etc/auto/auto.home -rw
/project /etc/auto/auto.project -rw
3. Set up your ancillary maps. Here is a sample of ours:
% cat /etc/auto/auto.project
# key mount options location
#
cows guy:/project/&
bulls guy:/project/&
gelding guy:/project/&
sheep guy:/project/&
4. Run the startup script on the command line:
/sbin/init.d/nfsmount start
The irritating thing about this is that DEC has put both ordinary
NFS mounts and automounts in the same file. This was unwise, as
one may well have reason to manipulate one and leave the other
alone: this case, for instance. Anyway, you should get harmless
error if it tries to mount NFS file systems that are already
mounted.
also --
The message "Unable to provide NFS automount service" comes when
the automounter command itself fails. The relevant section of the
startup shell script is:
if [ $AUTOMOUNT != 0 ]; then
if /usr/sbin/automount $AUTOMOUNT_ARGS; then
echo "NFS automount service started"
else
echo "Unable to provide NFS automount service"
fi
fi
That is, if the automounter fails for any reason, then the message
that you are receiving is sent.
The question, of course, is: why is it failing? Try:
sh -x /sbin/init.d/nfsmount start
This will tell you the exact command that is being run.
See if there are any mistakes in the command (perhaps the
file name is wrong, or it is not a full path name or the
path to the automounter itself is wrong).
If you see nothing odd, I can think of two possibilities
(although I am sure that there are more).
1. The directories specified in the direct maps, the
master maps, are not empty. Check to be sure. The automounter
is stingy: it likes to completely control the directories
in which automounts are performed.
2. There is an outstanding licensing issue. I get my licenses
from the CSLG program (I assume that you also do?) and have no
licence problems.
iii. Ian Mortimer <ian_at_physics.uq.edu.au> also directed me to the /etc/rc.config
(as seen above) and suggested a reboot after changes were made.
iv. C.Ruhnke <i769646_at_smrs013a.mdc.com> provided these suggestions --
1) Do you have your /etc/auto.master file set up to define the automount
devices?
2) Do you have the subsequent /etc/auto.<mountpoint> files setup to define
the automount directories under automount device <mountpoint>?
3) Are you trying to serve automount files that are NFS mounted from other
servers? There are special options that need to be set when you run
the automount daemon...
v. Louis lamullikin_at_west.raytheon.com suggested using nfssetup with these comments --
set up automount through nfssetup. Also put automounted directories
in /etc/auto.direct and make sure you put your exporting directories
in /etc/exports.
Again, thanks to one and all.
Scott Taylor
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
University of Iowa
Phone: 319 335-1970
email: smt_at_gamma.physics.uiowa.edu
Received on Tue Jul 28 1998 - 15:54:56 NZST