Setting Up Autofs for NFS Mounts

Set up NFS:

• Follow this guide (for ubuntu): https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-an-nfs-mount-on-ubuntu-20-04

Autofs is a file system management tool that offers several key features:

• Dynamic Mounting: File systems are mounted on-demand when they are accessed, reducing the number of mounts that need to be managed manually.
• Improved Performance: By reducing the number of mounted file systems, Autofs can improve system performance by reducing the amount of system resources required to manage mounts.
• Increased Security: Autofs can increase system security by reducing the number of mounted file systems available at any given time. This reduces the attack surface of the system.

Autofs mount methods:

• Direct
• Indirect

Let’s say nfs server is 192.168.0.101.

Direct mapping example:

• Map 192.168.0.101:/data to /data

vi /etc/master.auto

/- /etc/direct.auto
/home /etc/home.auto

vi /etc/direct.auto

/data 192.168.0.101:/data

Indirect mapping example:

• Map 192.168.0.101:/data/hugotse to /home/hugotse
• Map 192.168.0.101:/data/ to /home/

vi /etc/home.auto

hugotse 192.168.0.101:/data/hugotse
* 192.168.0.101:/data/&

Autofs man page:

• https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/focal/en/man5/autofs.5.html