What is the purpose of the /etc/fstab file?
This file contains a list of filesystems, their mount point, other configuration parameters such as which filesystems should be automatically mount.
What is the format of the /etc/fstab file?
block_special mount_location type opts dump_freq pass_numb
The opts column is comma-separated:
- rw: read and write
- ro: readonly
- suid: the SUID access mode is permitted (the default)
- nosuid: The SUID access mode is not permitted
- noauto: Do not automatically mount this filesystem
- rq: Quota may be placed in effect (Digital Unix)
- quota: Quota may be placed in effect (Sun OS, IRIX)
- usrquota: User quota may be placed in effect (Linux)
- grpquota: Group quota may be placed in effect (Linux)
- swap (or sw): swap partition
The dump_freq column is a decimal number indicating the frequency with which the filesystem should be backup by the dump utilities. A value of 1 means backup should be done everyday, 2 means every other day, and so on.
The pass_number column is a decimal number indicating the order with which fsck should check the filesystem. A pass_number 1 indicate that the filesystem should be checked first. The root filesystem must have pass_number 1. Filesystem on one disk drive must have different pass number. Filesystems on separate disk drives can have the same pass number, allowing fsck to check the filesystems in parallel. This field should be 0 for swap partition.
