Project Access

Oftentimes, trying to access directories such as—-

/net/fileserver/project/YYY/

Will result in an error message like:

cd: /net/fileserver/project/YYY: No such file or directory

This does not mean that your project area 'YYY' is gone or moved.

This happens when an automounted filesystem (anything under /class, /project, or /home) is not mounted. To access any of the /class, /project, or /home areas, you need to refer to them as a subdirectory of /class, /project or /home. (/project/YYY, not /net/fileserver/project/YYY).

While the path /net/fileserver/project/YYY may currently get you to your files, it will not always be present. Indeed, some day, if the fileserver that your 'YYY' project resides on became full, it could be moved to a new server, and your /net/fileserver/project/YYY path would never work. Remembering to use /project will ensure that your files are always accessible in the same way.

Here is a general overview of how the automounter works, and why you see the paths that you do:

• You cd to '/project/YYY'.
• The automounter controls access to any subdirectries of /project, and looks up where it can find the subdirectory 'YYY'.
• It reads that 'YYY' is in /net/fileserver/project,
• If /net/fileserver/project is not currently mounted, the automounter mounts /net/fileserver/project from 'fileserver'.
• The automounter creates a link from /project/YYY to /net/fileserver/project/YYY, if it doesn't exist already.
• If you do not access /project/YYY in a short period of time, /net/fileserver/project is unmounted, and the link to it in /project is deleted.

The same process works for accessing directories in /class, and for your home directory in /home.