Describing Linux fstab filesystem table file

When using Linux you will needed to change some options on your file systems. Getting acquainted with fstab can make the whole process a lot easier, and it’s much easier than you think. The configuration file /etc/fstab contains the necessary information to automate the process of mounting partitions. In a nutshell, mounting is the process where a raw (physical) partition is prepared for access and assigned a location on the file system tree (or mount point). The file FSTAB contains descriptive information about the various file systems. fstab is only read by programs, and not written; it is the duty of the system administrator to properly create and maintain this file. Each filesystem is described on a separate line; fields on each line are separated by tabs or spaces. Lines starting with ‘#’ are comments. The order of records in fstab is important because fsck, mount, and umount sequentially iterate through fstab doing their thing. This is an example of a fstab content fstab There are total six columns in the fstab file separated by spaces or tabs. Each column holds different information about the device. For adding any new device add a fresh row. Each row stands for a partition or removable device in the system.

  •               strictatime(updates the access time of the files every time they are accessed)
  •               noatime(disables writing file access times to the drive every time you read a file)
  •               nodiratime(disables the writing of file access times only for directories while other files still get access times written)
  •               relatime(updates the access time only if the previous access time was earlier than the current modify or change time).
  •               lazytime(reduces writes to disk by maintaining changes to inode timestamps (access, modification and creation times) only in memory)
  • Now we can edit and manage your /etc/fstab file without having any problems.  Note: Always remember to make a backup in case something goes wrong, but have fun, and be sure to leave your experiences in the comments!