autofs(8) - Linux man page
Name
/etc/rc.d/init.d/autofs - Control Script for automounterSynopsis
/etc/rc.d/init.d/autofs start|stop|restart|reload|statusDescription
Operation
autofs will consult a configuration file /etc/auto.master (see auto.master(5)) by default to find mount points on the system. For each of those mount points automount(8) will mount and start a thread, with the appropriate parameters, to manage the mount point./etc/rc.d/init.d/autofs reload will check the current auto.master map against running daemons. It will kill those daemons whose entries have changed and then start daemons for new or changed entries.
If a map is modified then the change will become effective immediately. If the auto.master map is modified then the autofs script must be rerun to activate the changes.
/etc/rc.d/init.d/autofs status will display the status of, automount(8) ,running or not.