Creating the /etc/fstab file

In order for certain programs to be able to determine where certain partitions are supposed to be mounted by default, the /etc/fstab file is used. Create a new file /etc/fstab containing the following:

cat > /etc/fstab << "EOF"
# Begin /etc/fstab

# filesystem   mount-point fs-type    options     dump    fsck-order

/dev/*LFS*     /           *fs-type*  defaults    1       1
/dev/*swap*    swap        swap       pri=1       0       0
proc           /proc       proc       defaults    0       0

# End /etc/fstab
EOF

*LFS*, *swap* and *fs-type* have to be replaced with the appropriate values (/dev/hda2, /dev/hda5 and reiserfs for example).

When adding a reiserfs partition, the 1 1 at the end of the line should be replaced with 0 0.

For more information on the various fields which are in the fstab file, see man 5 fstab.

There are other lines which you may consider adding to your fstab file. One example is the line which you must have if you are using devpts:

devpts         /dev/pts    devpts     gid=4,mode=620 0    0

Another example is a line to use if you intend to use USB devices:

usbfs       /proc/bus/usb usbfs defaults    0       0

Both of these options will only work if you have the relevant support compiled into your kernel.