Automounting Data Drives Using FSTAB in Linux Mint Cinnamon

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While there are GUI methods of setting up an internal drive to automatically mount, I found this one to be best (at least, it was for me) because it will allow the computer to boot even if a drive has died or has been removed.

1. Go to the File System (click on Home in Menu, then click on File system in left panel).

2. Right click on Media, then click on Open as Root.

3. Create a new folder named with the drive label.

4. Copy the UUID for the drivedrive from Disks and paste into a temporary Writer document or similar.

5. Open terminal and type:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Then hit ENTER.

5. In new screen that pops up, start a new line after the last existing line and type:

UUID=(paste UUID here without parentheses)(TAB)/media/(folder name)(TAB)ext4(TAB)defaults, nofail(TAB)0(TAB)0

Do NOT press ENTER at the end of the line. If adding multiple drives, do only one drive at a time or use an arrow key to move to a new line.

Where you see (TAB) above, that means to press the TAB key (don't type the parentheses). This is an example of how an entry will look:

UUID=123ec4fd-54e2-4590-8a4b-da43630efd72 /media/Data1 ext4 defaults,nofail 0 0

6. Press CTRL+o

7. Press ENTER to save.

8. Press CTRL+x to exit.

9. If needing to add another drive, go back to step 1.

9. Restart the machine after all entries have been made. you should then see your drive(s) automounting.

It is important that nofail is included in the FSTAB entry. Otherwise, if the drive dies or is removed, the computer will be unable to boot.

[linux-rox]

Three tips you may find useful.

1. IMHO, three spaces works better than a tab in fstab. What tabs do depends on where the text is on the line. Three spaces always do the same thing.

2. Kind of surprised to see you using nano. If you want GUI, try EDITOR='xed -w' sudoedit /etc/fstab. Will prompt for password.

3. If you like that, can make permanent with echo "export SUDO_EDITOR='xed -w'" | tee -a .bashrc && echo "alias edit='sudoedit'" | tee -a .bashrc (adds two lines to your .bashrc file). Now the command becomes simply edit /etc/fstab. Once enter password, file opens in xed, easy-peasy.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Three tips you may find useful.

1. IMHO, three spaces works better than a tab in fstab. What tabs do depends on where the text is on the line. Three spaces always do the same thing.

2. Kind of surprised to see you using nano. If you want GUI, try EDITOR='xed -w' sudoedit /etc/fstab. Will prompt for password.

3. If you like that, can make permanent with echo "export SUDO_EDITOR='xed -w'" | tee -a .bashrc && echo "alias edit='sudoedit'" | tee -a .bashrc (adds two lines to your .bashrc file). Now the command becomes simply edit /etc/fstab. Once enter password, file opens in xed, easy-peasy.

Thanks for the suggestions. After a lot of research, I found that the method I described worked best for me. There is a GUI way using Disks but I've found this to be more reliable in the long run.

[linux-rox]

Oh, I don't like the Disks method at all.

By the way, if anyone is interested, I notice on review that I neglected to mention one important detail for item #3. The edit to .bashrc doesn't take effect until the next time Terminal is opened. Or, can get it to take immediate effect with a further command: source .bashrc.