fstab.md

fstab

This is about the /etc/fstab config file.

Mount partitions at startup.

Good sources:

man fstab
man mount

• http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/fstab.html
• https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fstab

List partitions that should mount up at startup and where to mount them:

sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak
sudo vim /etc/fstab
sudo mount -a

Apply changes only mounts auto option set.

Syntax:

<file system> <mount point>  <type> <options>    <dump> <pass>
1             2              3      4            5      6

1. identifier to the file system.

   E.g.:

   • /dev/sda1
   • UUID=ABCD1234ABCD1234
   • LABEL=mylabel

2. where it will get mounted.

   The most standard option is to make a subdir of /media like /media/windows.

   This dir must exist before mount and preferably be used only for mounting a single filesystem.

   It seems that fstab can auto create/remove the missing directories.

3. Type. ext[234], NTFS, etc.

4. Options.

   • defaults. Use default options for the current filesystem type.

5. Dump. Used by the dump utility to make backups. If 0, don't make backups. If 1, make them.

6. Pass. Used by fsck. If 0 the FS is ignored by fsck, 1 it is checked with highest priority, 2 checked with smaller priority.

Use 1 for the primary partition, 2 for the others.