mount

Definition

A command used to attach a physical storage device (like a USB drive or a second hard drive) to a specific directory in the Linux file system tree.

Explain Like I'm New

Plugging the hard drive into the tree. On Windows, a USB drive magically becomes `E:\\`. On Linux, you must manually 'mount' (glue) the USB drive to an empty folder like `/mnt/usb` so you can look inside it.

Real World Example

You attach a massive 5TB Amazon EBS Volume to your server. It does nothing until you type `mount /dev/xvdf /data`. Now, any file you save into the `/data` folder is actually being saved on the 5TB drive.

Common Use Cases

•Adding storage volumes
•Network File Systems (NFS)

Interview Questions

basic

If you restart the server, does a hard drive stay mounted automatically?

intermediate

What is the `/etc/fstab` file?

Flash Cards

Question

Does it stay mounted?

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Answer

No. The `mount` command is strictly temporary. If you reboot, the mount is lost.

Question

What is fstab?

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Answer

The File System Table. It is a configuration file where you write down your mounts. When Linux boots up, it reads `/etc/fstab` and automatically mounts all the hard drives listed there so you don't have to do it manually.