Mounting Filesystems

Intermediate Linux
mountumountfstabblkidlsblk

Objective

Hands-on practice with mounting filesystems in a Linux environment.

Tools & Technologies

  • mount
  • umount
  • fstab
  • blkid
  • lsblk

Key Commands

lsblk -f
blkid /dev/sdb1
mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data
echo 'UUID=xxx /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 2' >> /etc/fstab

Lab Steps

01
Block Device Listing

Use lsblk and blkid to identify devices, filesystems, and UUIDs.

02
Manual Mounting

Mount partitions manually with mount, specifying type and options.

03
Persistent Mounts

Configure /etc/fstab entries using UUIDs for reliable boot-time mounting.

04
Network Filesystems

Mount NFS and CIFS shares from remote servers.

Challenges Encountered

  • Using device names (/dev/sdb) in fstab breaks if disk order changes
  • Wrong fstab entry can cause boot failure — use emergency mode to fix

Key Takeaways

  • Always use UUIDs in /etc/fstab, not device names
  • mount -a tests fstab without rebooting