Auto-Mounting Hard Drives on Ubuntu

Checking Available Drives¶

List all partitions:
```
lsblk
```
Get partition UUIDs:
```
blkid
```

Editing fstab for Auto-Mounting¶

Backup fstab before modification:
```
sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak
```
Open the fstab file:
```
sudo vim /etc/fstab
```

Add an entry in the following format:

UUID=your-uuid  /mnt/your-mount-point  ext4  defaults,nofail  0  2

Replace your-uuid with the actual UUID.
Ensure /mnt/your-mount-point exists and is an empty directory.
The nofail option allows the system to boot even if the drive is missing.

Applying Changes¶

Run:

sudo mount -a

Verifying the Mount¶

Check if the disk is mounted correctly:

df -h

Other issues¶

Why Use UUID Instead of Device Names?¶

A UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) is a persistent identifier for a disk partition. Unlike device names such as /dev/sda1, which can change due to hardware modifications, BIOS settings, or disk rearrangement, UUIDs remain consistent. Using UUIDs in /etc/fstab enhances system stability and prevents boot failures caused by disk name changes.

Identifier Type	Behavior on System Changes	Reliability
`/dev/sdX` (Device Name)	May change with new hardware, BIOS updates, or disk reordering	Unstable
`UUID`	Remains constant across reboots and hardware changes	Stable ✅

Important Considerations¶

Ensure mount points exist before adding entries in /etc/fstab.
Use nofail for external or secondary drives to avoid boot failures.
Improper fstab configurations can prevent system startup. If this happens on a cloud server, you may need to recover from an image backup or rescue mode.