Description of problem: Using executable maps to imitate the Sun "-hosts" map functionality suffers from two problems: (1) the exported filesystem paths cannot contain spaces, and (2) multi-maps do not work when the filesystem is not NFS, or at least in my experience, if the filesystem being mounted is SMBFS. I can understand why #1 does not work, but it would be nice if it could be made to work. However, I consider #2 to be a major flaw. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): 4.1.3-12 *** Information for Problem #1 - Spaces in Exported Paths *** Steps to Reproduce: 1. Make sure that the /net mountpoint is defined in /etc/auto.master and that it is running with the standard executable map /etc/auto.net 2. Run: mkdir -p '/tmp/testing/this is a test' 3. Run: exportfs '*:/tmp/testing/this is a test' 4. Run: ls /net/localhost/tmp Actual results: All you see under /net/localhost/tmp/testing is 'this'. Expected results: You should have seen 'this is a test', which is what Sun's automounter does. *** Information for Problem #2 - Multi-Maps Broken With SMBFS *** Steps to Reproduce: 1. Run: mkdir -p '/tmp/testing/smbnet' 2. Copy the attached executable map, auto.smbnet, into /tmp/testing and make sure that it has execute permission 3. Make sure that SMB/CIFS shares exist on your network, and if necessary, edit /tmp/testing/auto.smbnet to provide appropriate credentials to the remote Samba or Windows server 4. Test your setup with some host on your network by running "/tmp/testing/auto.smbnet some_host" and verify that its shares are output in the form of a multi-map 5. Make sure that the /tmp/testing/smbnet mountpoint is defined in /etc/auto.master and that it is running with the attached executable map /tmp/testing/auto.smbnet 6. Run: ls /tmp/testing/smbnet/some_host 7. Run: ls /tmp/testing/smbnet/some_host/specific_share Actual results: You see all of the shares available on some_host, but when you try to access a specific share, you receive an error message of the form "ls: /tmp/testing/smbnet/some_host/specific_share: No such file or directory." Looking at /var/log/messages reveals what seems to be a potential syntax incompatibilty or parsing problem between automount and mount.smbfs. There may also be other problems having to do with non-NFS multi-maps. Expected results: You should have seen the contents of specific_share.
Created attachment 106860 [details] Executable Map for Browsing Samba Shares
We should address issue 1 above (support exported file systems with spaces). I'm not quite so sure about supporting smb shares in auto.net. Recent versions of autofs contain an auto.smb, which will be included in RHEL 3 Update 5. You can try the beta version, available here: http://people.redhat.com/jmoyer/autofs/rhel3/4.1.3-120/ Please let us know if this addresses your concerns.
The real problem to be addressed in the second issue is not necessarily support for SMB shares, but supporting non-NFS multi-map outputs. In other words, multi-maps should not be restricted to HOST:/PATH (NFS) format, but rather any form recognized by AUTOFS such as :/DEVICE (e.g., a local CD-ROM) or ://HOST/SHARE (SMB) should be considered valid and parsed correctly. At present, these types of entries are processed correctly in single-map entries contained in file maps, NIS maps, and program maps, but multi-map entries (currently only supported in program maps) do not support these alternate forms.
I believe the latest autofs (link above) fixes your 2nd issue with smb maps.
Can you test out autofs from this location: http://people.redhat.com/jmoyer/autofs/rhel3/4.1.3-120/ and verify that it fixes your first problem? I'm duping this bug to split out the first issue of spaces in the exported directory names.
The previous entry is incorrect, can you test the rpm to verify that it fixes your second problem. A fix for your second problem is in autofs-4.1.3-120 and beyond.