Filesystem Administration
When Linux starts, it automatically mounts the file systems
specified in the file /etc/fstab
. By revising
this file, you can customize the operation of your system.
Configuring Local Drives
When you install Linux, the installation program configures the
file /etc/fstab
to specify what filesystems are
to be mounted when the system is started. Here’s a typical
/etc/fstab
file:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information. # # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> /dev/hda2 / ext2 defaults 0 1 /dev/hda3 none swap sw 0 0 proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
The first three lines, those beginning with a hash mark (#), are comments that are ignored by the system; they merely help human readers identify and understand the file. The next three lines each specify a filesystem to be mounted at system startup. Six columns of information appear:
- Filesystem
The device that contains the filesystem.
- Mount point
The system directory that will hold the filesystem.
- Filesystem type
Specifies the type of the filesystem. Popular types include:
- ext2
the standard Linux filesystem
- swap
the standard Linux swap filesystem
- proc
a special filesystem provided by the kernel, used by system components to obtain system information in a standard way
- iso9660
the standard filesystem used on CD-ROM
- msdos
the standard MS-DOS filesystem
See the man page for mount for other filesystem types.
- Mount options
Specifies the options given when the filesystem is mounted. If multiple options ...
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