updfstab

updfstab(8)                      Red Hat Linux                     updfstab(8)



NAME
       updfstab - update /etc/fstab to reflect removable devices

SYNOPSIS
       updfstab [-nt] [--usage]

DESCRIPTION
       updfstab  is  designed  to  keep /etc/fstab consistent with the devices
       plugged into your system. It looks for devices such as cdroms, zip  and
       jaz  drives,  ls120  drives,  and  digital  cameras on the SCSI and IDE
       buses. USB devices look like SCSI devices to user space, so  those  are
       supported as well, but are only added if they are currently attached to
       the system (having a scsi device assigned to them is not sufficient).

       Devices which updfstab adds to /etc/fstab are  marked  with  the  kudzu
       mount option to distinguish them from other devices.  updfstab will not
       remove devices from /etc/fstab unless they are marked  with  the  kudzu
       mount  option.  It  also  ignores  devices  that  are already listed in
       /etc/fstab, or which have multiple partitions on  the  media  currently
       inserted.


OPTIONS
       -c,--config=path
              Use  the configuration specified by path, rather then /etc/updf-
              stab.conf.


       -n,--normalize

              Normally, updfstab tries to touch /etc/fstab as little as possi-
              ble.  When this option is given, it will instead move all of the
              devices with the kudzu mount option to the end of the file,  and
              will  list  the  devices  in  the  same order the internal probe
              returns.


       -t,--test

              When this option is  specified,  updstab  does  not  update  the
              /etc/fstab file. Instead, it displays the fstab entries it would
              use to standard out. If no changes need to be made,  it  outputs
              the  string (nothing to do) rather then a full filesystem table.


CONFIGURATION
       The devices updfstab looks for are specified by its configuration file,
       /etc/updfstab.conf  by  default.  It  defines a number of devices which
       updfstab looks for on the system, along with various attributes of that
       device.  If  a single device name is given multiple times, later values
       override those given earlier. However, match directives accumulate; all
       specified  matches remain in effect for that device.  The default value
       of flags may be changed by specifying a new value for that flag outside
       of  any  device  section,  which  changes  the  default  for all future
       devices.

       A simple configuration file looks like this:
       # sample updfstab configuration file
       symlink false

       device cdrom {
           symlink true
           match cdrom
       }

       device zip {
           match hd zip
           match floppy "zip"
       }

       Here two devices are specified, cdrom and zip. If  a  cdrom  device  is
       found on the system, a /dev/cdrom is created pointing to the /dev entry
       for the device, and /mnt/cdrom is added to /etc/fstab. The  next  entry
       looks  for  hard drive devices with zip in their description as well as
       floppy devices with zip  in  their  description.  If  either  is  found
       /mnt/zip is added to /etc/fstab, but no symlink is created.

       Here is the complete list of directives which may be used:


       device name
              Set  attributes  for  device  name name. The name is used in the
              /etc/fstab entry and for any symbolic links which are created.


       include path
              Parsing of the current configuration file is  stopped,  and  the
              file  specified by path is read for current configuration infor-
              mation.  Multiple include directives may be given, but they  may
              not appear inside of device sections.


       match class string
              This  directive  adds  a  new rule for this device type; devices
              found on the system which  match  this  rule  are  considered  a
              device of the type whose section the match directive appears in.
              The class must be cdrom, floppy, or hd. If  string  appears,  it
              must be a substring of the physical device's description for the
              rule to match.


       nofstab val
              If val  is  true,  updfstab  does  not  add  a  mount  entry  to
              /etc/fstab. This is mainly useful in conjunction with symlink.


       partition num
              Specifies  a  default  partition  number which should be mounted
              from this device. If 0 is used,  no  partition  number  appears.
              updfstab  always scans /proc/partitions for the proper partition
              number before relying on this value.


       skip val
              The device entry is skipped.  This  lets  a  configuration  file
              undefine  a  device  that  was  defined  earlier  (such as in an
              included file). val should be true or false.


       symlink val
              If val is true, updfstab creates a symbolic  link  in  the  /dev
              directory  pointing  to the actual device. This symbolic link is
              then used in /etc/fstab.



FILES
       /etc/fstab
       /etc/updfstab.conf
       /proc/partitions

SEE ALSO
       kudzu(1)

AUTHORS
       Erik Troan <ewt@redhat.com>



Red Hat, Inc.                     29 Jan 2003                      updfstab(8)