An advantage of automounting over fixed NFS mounting is that remote file systems are mounted only when needed. Recovery from network interruptions is automatic and trouble-free. In addition, changes in NFS locations can be incorporated in an automount map that can be automatically broadcast to your location from LBL whenever it is updated. For further information, contact Mike Helm (m_helm@lbl.gov).
A disadvantage is that automounting is more complicated than fixed NFS mounting. Furthermore, the automounted file systems are invisible until they are requested; they are not revealed by typing
ls /CEDRCDAutomounted file systems cannot be exported via anonymous ftp.
A PERL program provided by James Bence of UCLA (jbence@math.ucla.edu) can be used to translate the current version of /etc/Custom/CDROM_map into the required format.
Alternatively, a csh script provided 3/14/96 by Raphe Berry of UC DATA (raphe@ucdata.berkeley.edu), translates the same input file into the proper format. The output file is written to ucdata.berkeley.edu:/etc/auto_cdroms .
A simpler version could be written which would use the public file http://merrill.wwh.net/cdrom/install/nfsloc.online . Consult your system manager for assistance in installing and configuring Sun's automounter. Once the automounter is properly installed and configured, any user of your work station can automatically mount any CD-ROM by typing (for example)
cd /CEDRCD/disk1