Linux Drive & Samba Mount Reference Guide

1. Identify Drives and UUIDs

List drives and partitions:

lsblk -f

Or get detailed info:

blkid

Example output:

/dev/sda1: UUID="a23ea28c-787c-422f-b608-ae2b586a68ea" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="3d8534bb-daed-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdc1: UUID="6E8D-1BF6" TYPE="exfat"
/dev/sdd1: UUID="ABCD1234" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/mmcblk0p1: UUID="1234-ABCD" TYPE="vfat"

Use these UUIDs in your /etc/fstab entries for reliability.

2. Format Drives (Optional)

Example commands:

# Format as ext4
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1

# Label a drive
sudo e2label /dev/sdb1 mydata

For removable devices:

FAT32 (microSD <32 GB): mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/mmcblk0p1
NTFS (USB SSD): mkfs.ntfs -f /dev/sdd1
exFAT: mkfs.exfat /dev/sdc1

3. Temporary Mounts

Create a mount point:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/mydrive01

Mount:

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/mydrive01

Check:

ls /mnt/mydrive01

Unmount:

sudo umount -l /mnt/mydrive01

4. Permanent Mounts with `/etc/fstab`

Always back up first:

sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.$(date +%F).bk
sudo nano /etc/fstab

Common Examples

1. Internal SSD (ext4, optimized for less write wear)

UUID=a23ea28c-787c-422f-b608-ae2b586a68ea  /mnt/data     ext4      defaults,noatime,commit=60,nofail              0 2

2. External HDD (ext4, user-mountable)

UUID=3d8534bb-daed-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX  /mnt/backup   ext4      defaults,user,exec,noatime,nofail                      0 2

3. External SSD (ext4, portable Linux drive)

UUID=4f72e3a2-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX  /mnt/ssdext   ext4      defaults,noatime,nofail,x-systemd.automount            0 2

Notes:

x-systemd.automount → delays mount until first access, speeding up boot.
noatime → reduces flash wear.
nofail → won’t block boot if not connected.

4. External SSD (exFAT, cross-platform)

UUID=6E8D-1BF6                            /mnt/ssd      exfat     defaults,user,exec,uid=1000,gid=1000,noatime,nofail,x-systemd.automount  0 0

5. USB SSD (NTFS, dual-boot safe)

UUID=ABCD1234                             /mnt/usbssd   ntfs-3g   defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,windows_names,noatime,nofail,x-systemd.automount  0 0

6. MicroSD (<32 GB, FAT32)

UUID=1234-ABCD                            /mnt/microsd  vfat      defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,noatime,nofail,x-systemd.automount  0 0

7. Samba Share

//192.168.150.10/smb01                     /mnt/smb01    cifs      credentials=/home/your_user/.smb_creds,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,file_mode=0770,dir_mode=0770,_netdev,nofail,x-systemd.automount  0 0

!! Replace your_user with your actual username.

5. Apply and Verify

Reload and apply:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo mount -a

Verify mounts:

df -h
ls /mnt/data /mnt/backup /mnt/ssd /mnt/usbssd /mnt/microsd /mnt/smb01

6. Samba – Manual Mount (Alternative)

Install CIFS tools:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y cifs-utils

Prepare mount point:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/smb01
sudo chown $(whoami):$(whoami) /mnt/smb01

Create credentials file (~/.smb_creds):

nano ~/.smb_creds

Contents (replace samba login values):

username=your_user
password=your_password
# domain=WORKGROUP   # if required

Set ownership and secure permissions:

chown $(whoami):$(whoami) ~/.smb_creds
chmod 600 ~/.smb_creds

Mount manually:

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.150.10/smb01 /mnt/smb01 -o credentials=/home/your_user/.smb_creds,uid=1000,gid=1000