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Mount external HDD

Mounting an external hard drive (HDD) on Linux is a straightforward process, but it requires a few key steps to ensure the drive is properly recognized, mounted and available for use. This guide walks you through how to find your mounted drives, obtain the drive's UUID, create a mount point and configure your system to automatically mount the external HDD on boot. By following these steps, you'll ensure the drive is securely mounted and ready for use.


  1. Identify mounted drives

    The first step is to identify the drives that are currently mounted on your system. This will help you locate the external HDD and determine where it’s currently mounted, if at all.

    Terminal window
    lsblk

  2. Obtain drive UUID

    Each drive in Linux has a unique identifier called the UUID. This step shows you how to obtain the UUID of your external HDD, which will be used for reliable mounting.

    Terminal window
    sudo blkid /dev/sda1

  3. Create a mount point

    A mount point is a directory where your external HDD will be accessed. In this step, you’ll create a directory that will serve as the location for your drive’s mount.

    Terminal window
    sudo mkdir -p {{{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}}}

  4. Change ownership of mount point

    After creating the mount point, it’s important to set the appropriate ownership and permissions for the directory. This ensures that the user or group can access the external HDD properly.

    Terminal window
    sudo chown -R $USER:$USER {{{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}}} && sudo chmod -R 755 {{{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}}}

  5. Modify fstab for auto-mount

    The /etc/fstab file controls how filesystems are mounted during system boot. This step shows you how to modify fstab to automatically mount your external HDD every time the system starts.

    Terminal window
    sudo nano /etc/fstab

  6. Add mount entry to fstab

    You’ll add a new line to the fstab file, below other entries, to specify how your external HDD should be mounted. This entry ensures the drive is automatically mounted at boot time using its UUID.

    Terminal window
    UUID={{{EXTERNAL_HDD_UUID_VAR}}}  {{{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}}}       ext4            auto,nofail,noatime,rw,users,exec  0    0

  7. Unmount external HDD

    Before making permanent changes, unmount the drive to ensure it’s safely disconnected from the system. This step avoids any potential data corruption while you edit configuration files.

    Terminal window
    sudo umount /dev/sda1

  8. Reboot or remount

    Once all changes are made, reboot your system to apply the fstab modifications and ensure that your external HDD mounts correctly at startup.

    Terminal window
    sudo reboot