Automount Share points not showing up?

Question

So I've got a Share point named 'Documents', 'Enable automount' is check and it has a custom path of '/Network/Documents'. (BTW, is the appropriate place for that?)
When I log in as a user I can see that the directory '/Network/Documents' is being created (by clicking on 'All...' in the finder sidebar), but nothing useful is happening with it... double-clicking on it takes me into the folder about 0.5 to 1 second then "redirects" me back to the 'Network' folder.
I don't get usable icons (on the desktop) for the 'Documents' share until I go Shared > MyServer > Documents ... only then do I see the share point in any sort of usable state.
Am I missing something? I assumed that making something automount would place it on the desktop or the sidebar or something when the user logs in.

Answer 1

+I assumed that making something automount would place it on the desktop or the sidebar or something when the user logs in.+
No. An automount only works if your server is configured to host a shared LDAP domain (OD Master) and the client is bound to that domain (so that it can read the mount record).
With that said, there are two types of automounts available via AFP:
*A Dynamic Automount*, which is typically used for the home directory share point(s). Dynamic mounts "eject" and remount as the user who is logging in at login time. The mount path is configured automatically in /Network/Servers.
For example, a share point configured to automount (located at /Volumes/Data/Homes on the server with name myserver.myco.lan) will dynamically automount at this path on the client:
/Network/Servers/myserver.myco.lan/Volumes/Data/Homes
*A Static Automount*, which is typically used for sharing common files; a shared Library is an example. Static automounts mount at /Network/mountname, and are done at startup time. Generally speaking, these will only work if one of the following is true:
1. AFP Guest access is on for the share point being statically automounted. (Make sure that AFP guest access is on for the AFP service and on for the share point. Disable it for any other share points that don't need AFP guest access.) In this case, the automount will be mounted as the AFP guest user, not the currently logged-in or connected user.
2. The client system is bound to an Open Directory Master via directory binding, and Kerberos is working properly on the master. In this case, the static automount will mount as the logged-in user.
If you just want to make a share point mount automatically at login time, consider adding the AFP share point's URL to the user's login items instead of creating an automount. This will mount the share point in the "classic" manner, where it appears in the Computer window and on the Desktop.
To do so, you can manage the login items (loginwindow.plist or com.apple.loginitems.plist) for the user or group via Workgroup Manager. Open TextEdit (for example), and type the URL for connecting to the share point - afp://myserver.myco.lan/stuff, for example - and drag that text onto the Desktop to create an AFP Internet Location file. Then drag that file into the login items section of Workgroup Manager to add it.
If your server has Kerberos running, you're set. When a client logs in, he/she gets a Kerberos TGT from the KDC and a service ticket for AFP which mounts the share point; no name and password to re-enter. If not, you can check the "connect with user's name and password" box in the login items section of Workgroup Manager to have login window hold the user's name and password temporarily and enter it for him/her.
Also note that Leopard clients don't automatically show mounted share points on the Desktop (but they do appear in the Computer window of the Finder and in the SHARED section of the sidebar). If you'd prefer to have users see shares on the Desktop again, you can manage that via Workgroup Manager's Finder preferences section.
Hope this helps!
--Gerrit
Message was edited by: Gerrit DeWitt