automount SMB in Tahoe 26 no longer working

I think I've found a pretty good workaround for this issue. The key seems to be to prevent MacOS from using the usual /Volumes mount point.

• Remove any favourites for the network drives that may exist in the Finder side bar from previous attempts. Make sure none of them are mounted (reboot if necessary).

• Using the terminal (or Finder itself I guess), make a new mount directory in your home directory (I made mine a hidden directory using a dot):

  mkdir /Users/Stuart/.mnt

• Make further directories beneath it to serve as mount points for your shares:

  mkdir /Users/Stuart/.mnt/Stuart

• In the terminal, edit the /etc/auto_master file (I'm using vim to do it):

  sudo vim /etc/auto_master

... and add the following line at the end of the file:

  /-          auto_smb

• Then create/edit the /etc/auto_smb file:

  sudo vim /etc/auto_smb

Add your shares in here, one on each line, to have them mount at the mount points you created for them earlier. For example:

  /Users/Stuart/.mnt/Stuart       -fstype=smbfs,soft,noowners,nosuid,rw   ://<user>:<password>@<server host or IP>/<share>

• After editing, run the following to mount the shares:

  sudo automount -vc

• Then, in Finder use the Go menu and: Go > Go to Folder...

Type the path of the directory you created earlier, for example:

  /Users/Stuart/.mnt

• Press Enter to go to that directory and you should see one or more other directories in there which, if all has gone well, will be your mounted network drives. Click on them and Finder should show you their contents as normal.

• Make sure the path bar is visible in your Finder (View > Show Path Bar) and then drag the little icon for your share from the bottom of the Finder window into the Finder side bar under Favourites to create a 'favourite' for your network drive. You can then use Finder to access your share via this as before.

• I've tried rebooting the Mac and then clicking on the favourites after reboot and they automount instantly and flawlessly, just like they used to do before Tahoe.

I hope this helps someone until Apple fix this problem.