Mounting Your Internal Disk on your Linux System

Dec 7, 2023 · Updated: Dec 8, 2023 · Harddisk, Linux

Introduction

In the previous article, I showed you how to physically install a hard disk in your computer. Now, in this article, I’ll guide you through the process of automounting the hard disk on your Linux system, making it accessible and ready to use with just a few simple commands.

Step 1: Switch to Root User

Since the operations require root permissions, switch to the root user without using sudo:

su

Step 2: Create GPT Table and File System

Linux requires a GPT table for disks. Use gdisk to create the GPT table and format the file system. First, identify your disk name with lsblk or blkid.

gdisk /dev/sda
o
y
n
enter
enter
enter
enter
p (ensure the file system is correct)
w
y

Step 3: Format the Disk and Choose File System Type

I prefer Btrfs for my disk type. Type:

mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda1

If you encounter an error indicating existing data, use the -f option to overwrite the /dev/sda.

mkfs.btrfs -f /dev/sda1

Step 4: Create Your Mount Source Path

Set a path for your files directory. Typically, mounting to the /mnt/* path is common.

mkdir /mnt/4tbhdd

Step 5: Mounting the Disk

Mounting the disk can be done temporarily or set up for automount.

Temporarily

For temporary mounting (until the system shutdown):

mount -t btrfs /dev/sda1 /mnt/4tbhdd/

Auto-mount

Identify your file system UUID using blkid.

blkid /dev/sda1

Copy the UUID value and use your preferred text editor to add the following line to /etc/fstab:

❯ nvim /etc/fstab

UUID=<uuid-of-btrfs-file-system>   /mnt/4tbhdd   btrfs   defaults  0   2

Explanation of the fields:

UUID=<uuid-of-btrfs-file-system>: Replace the actual UUID of your Btrfs file system.
/mnt/4tbhdd: This is the mount point where the Btrfs file system will be mounted. Ensure that the mount point exists before attempting to mount.
btrfs: Specifies the file system type. In this case, it’s Btrfs.
defaults: This field includes default mount options. You can customize this field based on your specific needs, but defaults typically includes commonly used options.
0: This field is used by fsck to determine the order in which filesystem checks are done at boot time. A value of 0 means that the file system is not checked.
2: This field is used by dump to determine the order in which filesystem backups are done at boot time. A value of 2 means that the file system is backed up.

After adding this entry to your /etc/fstab file, you can either reboot your system to apply the changes or manually mount the file system using the mount -a command.

Verify the Mounting

A Simple way, back to your directory /mnt/4tbhdd, and you should see your hard disk has been mounted. Right-click the directory and verify the free space (4.0 TB Free).

done

Step 6: Adjusting Permissions

After successfully auto-mounting the disk, you might notice that the ownership is restricted to the root user. This means you cannot use a regular user to create directories or manipulate files on the mounted disk. To address this, use the chown command to set permissions, allowing your user and group to access all items:

sudo chown user:group /mnt/4tbhdd

Replace user and group with your actual username and group. This adjustment ensures that you, as a regular user, have the necessary permissions to interact with the mounted disk.

Conclusion

Automounting your hard disk on Linux ensures convenient access to your storage space without manual intervention. This process allows you to seamlessly integrate additional storage capacity into your system.