Fstab
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- The title of this article is incorrect because of technical limitations. The correct title is fstab.
The fstab (for file systems table) file is commonly found on Unix-like systems and is part of the system configuration. The fstab file typically lists all used disks and disk partitions, and indicates how they are to be used or otherwise integrated into the overall system's file system.
Generally, the fstab is only read by programs, and not written; it is the duty of the system administrator to properly create and maintain this file. However, more modern system administration tools can automatically build and edit fstab, or act as graphical editors for fstab.
The file may have other names on a given Unix variant; for example, it is /etc/vfstab on Solaris.
Example
The following is an example of a fstab file on a Redhat Linux system:
# device name mount point fs-type options dump-freq pass-num LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1 none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0 none /proc proc defaults 0 0 none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0 # my removable media /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner,kudzu 0 0 # my NTFS Windows XP partition /dev/hda1 /mnt/WinXP ntfs ro, defaults 0 0 /dev/hda6 swap swap defaults 0 0 # my files partition shared by windows and linux /dev/hda7 /mnt/shared vfat umask=000 0 0
( kudzu is an option specific to RedHat and Fedora Core )
The first column indicates the device name or other means of locating the partition or data source. The second column indicates where the data is to be attached to the filesystem. The third column indicates the filesystem type, or algorithm to use to interpret the filesystem. The fourth column gives options, including if the filesystem should be mounted at boot. The fifth column adjusts the backup schedule for the partition (used by dump). The sixth column indicates if the fsck utility should be used to scan this partition for errors at boot.
There is a useful guide on how to edit and understand /etc/fstab[1] (http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/fstab.html) at the tuxfiles[2] (http://www.tuxfiles.org/) site. You could also type the following in your bash shell.man fstab
If you use the KDE you can use kfstab GUI for editing fstab.