fstab Options
A quick note on fstab mount options from How-To-Geek
- auto/noauto: Specify whether the partition should be automatically mounted on boot. You can block specific partitions from mounting at boot-up by using “noauto”.
- exec/noexec: Specifies whether the partition can execute binaries. If you have a scratch partition that you compile on, then this would be useful, or maybe if you have /home on a separate file system. If you’re concerned about security, change this to “noexec”.
- ro/rw: “ro” is read-only, and “rw” is read-write. If you want to be able to write to a file-system as the user and not as root, you’ll need to have “rw” specified.
- sync/async: This one is interesting. “sync” forces writing to occur immediately on execution of the command, which is ideal for floppies (how much of a geek are you?) and USB drives, but isn’t entirely necessary for internal hard disks. What “async” does is allow the command to execute over an elapsed time period, perhaps when user activity dies down and the like. Ever get a message asking to your “wait while changes are being written to the drive?” This is usually why.
- nouser/user: This allows the user to have mounting and unmounting privileges. An important note is that “user” automatically implies “noexec” so if you need to execute binaries and still mount as a user, be sure to explicitly use “exec” as an option.
HTG Explains: What is the Linux fstab and How Does It Work?
