systemd-mount - Man Page

• Mount a filesystem (image or block device) at /run/media/system/LABEL where LABEL is the filesystem label or the device name if there is no label: systemd-mount path/to/file_or_device
• Mount a filesystem (image or block device) at a specific location: systemd-mount path/to/file_or_device path/to/mount_point
• List all local, known block devices with filesystems that may be mounted: systemd-mount --list
• Create an automount point that mounts the actual filesystem at the time of first access: systemd-mount --automount yes path/to/file_or_device
• Unmount one or more devices: systemd-mount [-u|--umount] path/to/mount_point_or_device1 path/to/mount_point_or_device2 ...
• Mount a filesystem (image or block device) with a specific filesystem type: systemd-mount [-t|--type] file_system_type path/to/file_or_device path/to/mount_point
• Mount a filesystem (image or block device) with additional mount options: systemd-mount [-o|--options] mount_options path/to/file_or_device path/to/mount_point

tldr.sh

systemd-mount [Options...] WHAT [WHERE]

systemd-mount [Options...] --tmpfs [NAME] WHERE

systemd-mount [Options...] --list

systemd-mount [Options...] --umount WHAT|WHERE...

systemd-mount may be used to create and start a transient ​.mount or ​.automount unit of the file system WHAT on the mount point WHERE​.

In many ways, systemd-mount is similar to the lower-level mount(8) command, however instead of executing the mount operation directly and immediately, systemd-mount schedules it through the service manager job queue, so that it may pull in further dependencies (such as parent mounts, or a file system checker to execute a priori), and may make use of the auto-mounting logic​.

The command takes either one or two arguments​. If only one argument is specified it should refer to a block device or regular file containing a file system (e​.g​. "/dev/sdb1" or "/path/to/disk​.img")​. The block device or image file is then probed for a file system label and other metadata, and is mounted to a directory below /run/media/system/ whose name is generated from the file system label​. In this mode the block device or image file must exist at the time of invocation of the command, so that it may be probed​. If the device is found to be a removable block device (e​.g​. a USB stick), an automount point is created instead of a regular mount point (i​.e​. the --automount= option is implied, see below)​. If the option --tmpfs is specified, then the argument is interpreted as the path where the new temporary file system shall be mounted​.

If two arguments are specified, the first indicates the mount source (the WHAT) and the second indicates the path to mount it on (the WHERE)​. In this mode no probing of the source is attempted, and a backing device node does not have to exist​. However, if this mode is combined with --discover, device node probing for additional metadata is enabled, and – much like in the single-argument case discussed above – the specified device has to exist at the time of invocation of the command​.

Use the --list command to show a terse table of all local, known block devices with file systems that may be mounted with this command​.

systemd-umount can be used to unmount a mount or automount point​. It is the same as systemd-mount --umount​.

The following options are understood:

--no-block

Do not synchronously wait for the requested operation to finish​. If this is not specified, the job will be verified, enqueued and systemd-mount will wait until the mount or automount unit's start-up is completed​. By passing this argument, it is only verified and enqueued​.

Added in version 232​.

-l,  --full

Do not ellipsize the output when --list is specified​.

Added in version 245​.

--no-pager

Do not pipe output into a pager​.

--no-legend

Do not print the legend, i​.e​. column headers and the footer with hints​.

--no-ask-password

Do not query the user for authentication for privileged operations​.

--json=MODE

Shows output formatted as JSON​. Expects one of "short" (for the shortest possible output without any redundant whitespace or line breaks), "pretty" (for a pretty version of the same, with indentation and line breaks) or "off" (to turn off JSON output, the default)​.

--quiet,  -q

Suppresses additional informational output while running​.

Added in version 232​.

--discover

Enable probing of the mount source​. This switch is implied if a single argument is specified on the command line​. If passed, additional metadata is read from the device to enhance the unit to create​. For example, a descriptive string for the transient units is generated from the file system label and device model​. Moreover, if a removable block device (e​.g​. USB stick) is detected an automount unit instead of a regular mount unit is created, with a short idle timeout, in order to ensure the file-system is placed in a clean state quickly after each access​.

Added in version 232​.

--type=, -t

Specifies the file system type to mount (e​.g​. "vfat" or "ext4")​. If omitted or set to "auto", the file system type is determined automatically​.

Added in version 232​.

--options=, -o

Additional mount options for the mount point​.

Added in version 232​.

--owner=USER

Let the specified user USER own the mounted file system​. This is done by appending uid= and gid= options to the list of mount options​. Only certain file systems support this option​.

Added in version 237​.

--fsck=

Takes a boolean argument, defaults to on​. Controls whether to run a file system check immediately before the mount operation​. In the automount case (see --automount= below) the check will be run the moment the first access to the device is made, which might slightly delay the access​.

Added in version 232​.

--description=

Provide a description for the mount or automount unit​. See Description= in systemd.unit(5)​.

Added in version 232​.

--property=, -p

Sets a unit property for the mount unit that is created​. This takes an assignment in the same format as systemctl(1)'s set-property command​.

Added in version 232​.

--automount=

Takes a boolean argument​. Controls whether to create an automount point or a regular mount point​. If true an automount point is created that is backed by the actual file system at the time of first access​. If false a plain mount point is created that is backed by the actual file system immediately​. Automount points have the benefit that the file system stays unmounted and hence in clean state until it is first accessed​. In automount mode the --timeout-idle-sec= switch (see below) may be used to ensure the mount point is unmounted automatically after the last access and an idle period passed​.

If this switch is not specified, it defaults to false​. If not specified and --discover is used (or only a single argument passed, which implies --discover, see above), and the file system block device is detected to be removable, it is set to true, in order to increase the chance that the file system is in a fully clean state if the device is unplugged abruptly​.

Added in version 232​.

-A

Equivalent to --automount=yes​.

Added in version 232​.

--timeout-idle-sec=

Takes a time value that controls the idle timeout in automount mode​. If set to "infinity" (the default) no automatic unmounts are done​. Otherwise, the file system backing the automount point is detached after the last access and the idle timeout passed​. See systemd.time(7) for details on the time syntax supported​. This option has no effect if only a regular mount is established, and automounting is not used​.

Note that if --discover is used (or only a single argument passed, which implies --discover, see above), and the file system block device is detected to be removable, --timeout-idle-sec=1s is implied​.

Added in version 232​.

--automount-property=

Similar to --property=, but applies additional properties to the automount unit created, instead of the mount unit​.

Added in version 232​.

--bind-device

Controls whether the generated mount/automount unit shall be bound to the backing device's lifetime​. This setting is especially useful in automount mode​. If set, the units will be stopped automatically when the backing device vanishes​. By default, the automount unit stays around, and subsequent accesses will block until backing device is replugged​. This option has no effect in case of non-device mounts, such as network or virtual file system mounts​.

If --discover is used (or only a single argument passed, which implies --discover, see above), and the file system block device is detected to be removable, this option is implied​.

Note that mount units by default gain a Requires= dependency on the backing device​. This behavior can be controlled via x-systemd​.device-bound= mount option, see systemd.mount(5) for details​. In particular, x-systemd​.device-bound=no takes precedence over this option, which suppresses device dependencies both in the generated mount units and what's implied by service manager​.

Added in version 232​.

--list

Instead of establishing a mount or automount point, print a terse list of block devices containing file systems that may be mounted with "systemd-mount", along with useful metadata such as labels, etc​.

Added in version 232​.

-u,  --umount

Stop the mount and automount units corresponding to the specified mount points WHERE or the devices WHAT​. systemd-mount with this option or systemd-umount can take multiple arguments which can be mount points, devices, /etc/fstab style node names, or backing files corresponding to loop devices, like systemd-mount --umount /path/to/umount /dev/sda1 UUID=xxxxxx-xxxx LABEL=xxxxx /path/to/disk​.img​. Note that when -H or -M is specified, only absolute paths to mount points are supported​.

Added in version 233​.

-G,  --collect

Unload the transient unit after it completed, even if it failed​. Normally, without this option, all mount units that mount and failed are kept in memory until the user explicitly resets their failure state with systemctl reset-failed or an equivalent command​. On the other hand, units that stopped successfully are unloaded immediately​. If this option is turned on the "garbage collection" of units is more aggressive, and unloads units regardless of whether they exited successfully or failed​. This option is a shortcut for --property=CollectMode=inactive-or-failed, see the explanation for CollectMode= in systemd.unit(5) for further information​.

Added in version 236​.

-T,  --tmpfs

Create and mount a new tmpfs file system on WHERE, with an optional NAME that defaults to "tmpfs"​.

The file system is mounted with the top-level directory mode determined by the umask(2) setting of the caller, i​.e​. rwxrwxrwx masked by the umask of the caller​. This matches what mkdir(1) does, but is different from the kernel default of "rwxrwxrwxt", i​.e​. a world-writable directory with the sticky bit set​.

Added in version 255​.

--canonicalize=

Controls whether the specified path shall be canonicalized on the client side before requesting the operation or not​. Takes a boolean parameter, defaults to true​. Note that for non-local operation (i​.e​. when --machine= or ----host= are used) canonicalization is implicitly turned off​.

Canonicalization of path entails resolving of symlinks, "​.​." path elements and LABEL=/UUID= style device node expansion​. If canonicalization is disabled and the path contains a symlink element, "​.​.", or a LABEL=/UUID=/​... expansion the operation will fail​.

Added in version 258​.

--user

Talk to the service manager of the calling user, rather than the service manager of the system​.

--system

Talk to the service manager of the system​. This is the implied default​.

-H,  --host=

Execute the operation remotely​. Specify a hostname, or a username and hostname separated by "@", to connect to​. The hostname may optionally be suffixed by a port ssh is listening on, separated by ":", and then a container name, separated by "/", which connects directly to a specific container on the specified host​. This will use SSH to talk to the remote machine manager instance​. Container names may be enumerated with machinectl -H HOST​. Put IPv6 addresses in brackets​.

-M,  --machine=

Execute operation on a local container​. Specify a container name to connect to, optionally prefixed by a user name to connect as and a separating "@" character​. If the special string "​.host" is used in place of the container name, a connection to the local system is made (which is useful to connect to a specific user's user bus: "--user --machine=lennart@​.host")​. If the "@" syntax is not used, the connection is made as root user​. If the "@" syntax is used either the left hand side or the right hand side may be omitted (but not both) in which case the local user name and "​.host" are implied​.

-h,  --help

Print a short help text and exit​.

--version

Print a short version string and exit​.

On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise​.

If --discover is used, systemd-mount honors a couple of additional udev properties of block devices:

SYSTEMD_MOUNT_OPTIONS=

The mount options to use, if --options= is not used​.

Added in version 232​.

SYSTEMD_MOUNT_WHERE=

The file system path to place the mount point at, instead of the automatically generated one​.

Added in version 232​.

Use a udev rule like the following to automatically mount all USB storage plugged in:

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", SUBSYSTEM=="block", ENV{ID_FS_USAGE}=="filesystem", \
        RUN{program}+="/usr/bin/systemd-mount --no-block --automount=yes --collect $devnode"

systemd(1), mount(8), systemctl(1), systemd.unit(5), systemd.mount(5), systemd.automount(5), systemd-run(1)

systemd-analyze(1), systemd.directives(7), systemd.index(7), systemd.mount(5), systemd-run(1).

The man page systemd-umount(1) is an alias of systemd-mount(1).