fstab ==================================================================================== fstab (File Systems Table) The fstab (file systems table) is a system configuration file ( /etc/fstab ) used to define how disk partitions, filesystems, and other storage devices should be mounted and integrated into the filesystem at boot time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Purpose of  fstab Mounting Filesystems: fstab tells the operating system which filesystems to mount and where to mount them in the directory structure. Automating Mounting: It allows for the automatic mounting of filesystems at boot time without user intervention. Specifying Options: It provides options for mounting, such as read/write permissions, mount points, and special parameters for specific filesystems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ File Format The fstab file consists of lines, each of which describes a filesystem. Each line contains six fields, separated by spaces or tabs: Filesystem : The block device or remote filesystem to be mounted (e.g., /dev/sda1 , UUID=xxxxx , LABEL=xxxxx , /server/share ). Mount Point : The directory where the filesystem will be mounted (e.g., / , /home , /mnt/data ). Type : The type of filesystem (e.g., ext4 , ntfs , nfs , tmpfs ). Options : Mount options (e.g., defaults , noatime , ro , rw ). Multiple options are comma-separated. Dump : A number indicating whether the filesystem should be backed up by the dump utility ( 0 for no, 1 for yes). Pass : The order in which filesystems should be checked at boot time by the fsck utility ( 0 for no check, 1 for the root filesystem, 2 for other filesystems). You never need to enable dump - it's an old outdated command. example: #                   UUID=1234-5678   /              ext4    defaults            0       1 UUID=8765-4321   /home          ext4    defaults            0       2 /dev/sda2        swap           swap    sw                  0       0 /server/share /mnt/share cifs username=user,password=pass 0 0 ====================================================================================