Automatically Mounted/Dismounted Filesystems

The complete listing of the /pod filesystem is now available below by clicking on word "listing" in the corresponding description.

The following filesystems are handled by Unix-based automatic filsystem mounting programs called automounters. Such filesystems have certain special characteristics not shared by conventionally mounted filesystems. First, subdirectories typically only appear on demand. Secondly, if not accessed for a set period, usually five minutes, the filesystem is automatically dismounted.

Pods

/pod/podname

Allows netwide symbolic access to software package heirarchies.
Allows transparent movement of heirarchies by administrators.
Pods may have subdirectories auto-included in searchpaths.
Complete listing via: pod -p
Example: /pod/gnu/bin/emacs
The pod of GNU software, directory "bin", program "emacs".

Volumes

/vol/volumename

Allows netwide symbolic access to volumes.
Allows transparent movement of heirarchies by administrators.
Volumes may contain arbitrary data, such as render archives.
Volumes do not have the rigid structure of pods.
Volumes are not used in automatic search path generation.
Volumes names are not confined to any particular scheme.
Example: /vol/film2-renders-final
One possible volume for final renders for film2.

Homes

/home/username

Allows netwide symbolic access to home directories,
Allows transparent movement of user directories by administrators.
Full listing via: user -every -login | sed 's@^@/home/@'
Example:/home/erlkonig/bin/script/purge
A file two levels down in the home directory of the user called "erlkonig".

Hosts

/on/hostname/pathname

Allows netwide access to any NFS-shared file on the network.
Does not hide the effects of a file or directory having been moved by an administrator, such as a user's home directory being moved to a new machine.
When possible, prefer the use of /home, /pod, and /vol.
Example: /on/sol/fs/r1/tmp
The directory pathname /fs/r1/tmp on host sol.

Automount

The dirty underbelly of the automounter.
Whether it's visible depends on which automounter technology is in use.
In 2010, for example, autofs was in use, which doesn't have said underbelly.

/tmp_mnt/pathname
/_/pathname
/.automount/pathname

The dirty underbelly of the automounter.
Never explicity use these prefixes.
Example: /tmp_mnt/on/studio/fs/d1/gnu/bin/emacs
Example: /_/on/studio/fs/d1/gnu/bin/emacs
Example: /.automount/on/studio/fs/d1/gnu/bin/emacs
The automount link for /pod/gnu/bin/emacs.
(Which of the above example is actual is OS- and config-dependent)