GUI
The file /etc/fstab (it stands for "file system table") contains descriptions of filesystems that you mount often. These filesystems can then be mounted with a shorter command, such as mount /cdrom. You can also configure filesystems to mount automatically when the system boots. You'll probably want to mount all of your hard disk filesystems when you boot.
Look at this file now, by typing more /etc/fstab. It will have two or more entries that were configured automatically when you installed the system. It probably looks something like this:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
#
/dev/hda1 / ext2 defaults 0 1
/dev/hda3 none swap sw 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda5 /tmp ext2 defaults 0 2
/dev/hda6 /home ext2 defaults 0 2
/dev/hda7 /usr ext2 defaults 0 2
/dev/hdc /cdrom iso9660 ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /floppy auto noauto,sync 0 0
The first column lists the device the filesystem resides on. The second lists the mount point, the third the filesystem type. The line beginning proc is a special filesystem explained in The proc filesystem, Section 4.8.3. Notice that the swap partition (/dev/hda3 in the example) has no mount point, so the mount point column contains none.
The last three columns may require some explanation.
The fifth column is used by the dump utility to decide when to back up the filesystem. FIXME: cross ref to dump
The sixth column is used by fsck to decide in what order to check filesystems when you boot the system. The root filesystem should have a 1 in this field, filesystems which don't need to be checked (such as the swap partition) should have a 0, and all other filesystems should have a 2. FIXME: cross ref to fsck, also, is the swap partition really a filesystem?
Column four contains one or more options to use when mounting the filesystem. Here's a brief summary (some of these probably won't make much sense yet - they're here for future reference):
| [Device] [Mount Point] [File_system] [Options] [dump] [fsck order] |
See Basic partitioning for more information
ls /dev/disk/by-label -lah
ls /dev/disk/by-id -lah
ls /dev/disk/by-uuid -lah
sudo mkdir /media/usb
To mount an iso image (*.iso NOT CD/DVD device):Code:sudo mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0
| server:/shared_directory /mnt/nfs nfs |
Possible devices include:
To mount a filesystem, tell Linux to associate whatever filesystem it finds on a particular device with a particular mount point.
If you haven't already, you need to either log in as root or gain root privileges with the su (super user) command. If you use su, enter the root password when prompted.
See what's in the /cdrom directory before you start. If you don't have a /cdrom directory, you may have to make one using mkdir /cdrom.
Typing simply mount with no arguments lists the currently mounted filesystems.
For this command, you should substitute the name of your CD-ROM device for CD device in the above command line. If you aren't sure, /dev/hdc is a good guess. If that fails, try the different IDE devices: /dev/hda, etc. You should see a message like:
mount: block device /dev/hdc is write-protected, mounting read-only
The -t option specifies the type of the filesystem, in this case iso9660. Most CDs are iso9660. The next argument is the name of the device to mount, and the final argument is the mount point. There are many other arguments to mount; see the man page for details. (For example, you could avoid the above message by specifying read-only on the command line.)
Once a CD is mounted, you may find that your drive tray will not open. You must unmount the CD before removing it.
Confirm that /cdrom now contains whatever is on the CD in your drive.
Look at the list of filesystems again, noticing that your CD drive is now mounted.
This unmounts the CD. It's now safe to remove the CD from the drive. Notice that the command is umount with no "n", even though it's used to unmount the filesystem.
The apt-get command is a powerful command-line tool used to work with Ubuntu's Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) performing such functions as installation of new software packages, upgrade of existing software packages, updating of the package list index, and even upgrading the entire Ubuntu system.
Being a simple command-line tool, apt-get has numerous advantages over other package management tools available in Ubuntu for server administrators. Some of these advantages include ease of use over simple terminal connections (SSH) and the ability to be used in system administration scripts, which can in turn be automated by the cron scheduling utility.
Some examples of popular uses for the apt-get utility:
Install a Package: Installation of packages using the apt-get tool is quite simple. For example, to install the network scanner nmap, type the following:
sudo apt-get install nmap Remove a Package: Removal of a package or packages is also a straightforward and simple process. To remove the nmap package installed in the previous example, type the following:
sudo apt-get remove nmap Sometimes you might want to install a package which you have downloaded from a website, rather than from a software repository. These packages are called .deb files. Because they may have been created for a different Linux distribution, they may have unmet dependencies on Ubuntu and so may not be installable.
GDebi is a graphical application used to install packages. It automatically checks packages for their dependencies and will try to download them from the Ubuntu software repositories if possible. You may first need to install GDebi - simply install the gdebi package using one of the package managers listed above, or open a Terminal and type sudo apt-get install gdebi.
Once you have installed GDebi, use the File Browser to find the package you wish to install. Package files will look similar to this:
Double-click the package to open it with GDebi. If all dependencies have been met for the selected package, simply click the 'Install package' button to install it. GDebi will warn you if there are unmet dependencies.
To install a .deb file in Kubuntu, right-click on the .deb file, and choose Kubuntu Package Menu->Install Package.
dpkg is a command-line tool used to install packages. To install a package with dpkg, open a Terminal and type the following:
cd directory
sudo dpkg -i package_name.deb
Note: replace directory with the directory in which the package is stored and package_name with the filename of the package.
It is recommended that you read the dpkg manual page before using dpkg, as improper use may break the package management database. To view the manual page for dpkg, open a Terminal and type man dpkg.