mount

Mount a file system
All files accessible in a Unix system are arranged in one big tree, the file hierarchy, rooted at /. These files can be spread out over several devices. The mount command serves to attach the file system found on some device to the big file tree.

Syntax
       mount -a [-fFnrsvw] [-t vfstype]

       mount [-fnrsvw] [-o options [,...]] device | dir

       mount [-fnrsvw] [-t vfstype] [-o options] device dir

       mount [-hV]
Options

   -a     Mount  all  filesystems  (of  the given types) mentioned in fstab.

   -F     (Used in conjunction with  -a.)   Fork  off  a  new incarnation of mount
          for each device.  This will do the mounts on different devices
          or  different NFS servers in parallel.
          This has the advantage that it is faster; also NFS timeouts go in  parallel. 
          A disadvantage is that the mounts are done in undefined order.
          Thus, you cannot use this option if you want to mount both /usr and /usr/spool.

   -f     Causes  everything to be done except for the actual system call;
          if it's not  obvious, this 'fakes' mounting the file system.
          This option is useful in conjunction with the -v flag to determine what
          the mount command is trying to do. It can also be used to add entries for devices
          that were mounted  earlier with the -n option.

   -n     Mount without writing in /etc/mtab.
          This is necessary for example when /etc is on a read-only file system.

   -s     Tolerate  sloppy mount options rather than failing.
          This option exists for support of the Linux autofs-based automounter.

   -r     Mount  the  file  system read-only. A synonym is -o ro

   -w     Mount the  file  system  read/write.  This is the default. A synonym is -o rw.

   -L label
          Mount the partition that has the specified label.

   -U uuid
          Mount  the  partition  that has the specified uuid.

   -o     Several -o options can be specified in a comma separated string ...
          see info for more.

          async  All  I/O  to  the file system should be done asynchronously.

          atime  Update inode access time  for  each  access.
                 This is the default.

          noatime
                 Do  not  update  inode  access times on this file system
                 (e.g, for faster access  on  the news spool to speed up news servers).

          auto   Can be mounted with the -a option.

          noauto Can only be mounted explicitly (i.e., the -a option will not cause the
                 file system to  be mounted).

          ro     Mount the file system read-only.

          rw     Mount the file system read-write.

          suid   Allow set-user-identifier or set-group-identifier bits to take effect.

          sync   All  I/O  to  the file system should be done synchronously.

   -t vfstype
          The  argument  following the -t is used to indicate the file system type.

   -h     Print a help message.

   -V     Output version.

   -v     Verbose mode.

File system specific MOUNT options: see info mount for these

The standard form of the mount command, is mount -t type device dir This tells the kernel to attach the file system found on device (which is of type type) at the directory dir. The previous contents (if any) and owner and mode of dir become invisible, and as long as this file system remains mounted, the pathname dir refers to the root of the file system on device.

Examples

These three forms of invocation do not actually mount anything:

Print a help message:

mount -h

Print a version string:

mount -V

List all mounted file systems of type 'type':

mount [-t type]

The proc file system is not associated with a special device, and when mounting it, an arbitrary keyword, such as proc can be used instead of a device specification. (The customary choice none is less fortunate: the error message 'none busy' from umount can be confusing.)

Most devices are indicated by a file name (of a block special device), like /dev/sda1, but there are other possibilities. For example, in the case of an NFS mount, device might look like knuth.cwi.nl:/dir. It is possible to indicate a block special device using its volume label or UUID (see the -L and -U options below).

The file /etc/fstab (see fstab), can contain lines describing what devices are usually mounted where, using which options.

"The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion" ~ John Adams

Related linux commands

autofs5 - Control Script for automounter.
automount - manage autofs mount points.
df - Report filesystem disk space usage.
fdformat - Low-level format a floppy disk.
fdisk - Partition table manipulator for Linux.
ram - ram disk device.
umount(8) - detach/unmount a device.
Equivalent Windows commands: Disk Administrator GUI.


 
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