mounting_university_drives_on_linux_at_boot-time [COM Network Guide]

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
======Mounting U and X drives automatically on Linux at boot-time======

This requires the user to have sudo access, and be comfortable with using the Linux command line and some minor editing of system files.

It's not really suitable for WiFi-connected devices, as any network offline-time or switch to a different hotspot may cause the shares to lock up and necessitate a reboot. Use for ethernet-connected desktops only. Also, it's not suitable for shared computers; only if you are the sole user.

First it's necessary to install some extra package to allow mounting of network shares onto the local filesystem:
<code>sudo apt install cifs-utils</code> 

Create some mountpoints in your home directory: 
<code>
mkdir $HOME/U-drive
mkdir $HOME/X-drive
</code>
Make a file to hold your University credentials for accessing the shares drives:
<code>nano $HOME/smbcredentials</code>
Populate that file with your username, password and domain like this (replacing the x's with your own details!):
<code>
username=ac1xxx
password=xxxxxxxx
domain=SHEFUNIAD
</code>

Lock down the permissions:
<code>
chmod 600 $HOME/smbcredentials
</code>

To tell the system to mount these at boot-time, it's necessary to edit the file system mounts table. Before doing this, find out your **uid** and **gid** values, using the "id" command.\\
Also, if you haven't done so already, find out the path to the particular server your U-drive is located on, here:\\ https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/it-services/password/crisp-web.pl \\
(see the section "View University Storage Information"and look in the "Server" field)

Then edit:
<code>
sudoedit /etc/fstab
</code>

Using the information  you gathered in the last step, add these entries to the file:
<code>
//stfdataXX.shef.ac.uk/home/Ac/Ac1XXX	/home/<your_username>/U-drive	cifs	uid=xxxx,gid=xxxx,credentials=/home/<your_username>/smbcredentials	0	0
//uosfstore.shef.ac.uk/shared	/home/<your_username>/X-drive	cifs	uid=xxxx,gid=xxxx,credentials=/home/your_username/smbcredentials	0	0
</code>
The above is generic, so you need to replace: 
  * stfdataXX with your storage server, 
  * Ac1xxx with your //ITS// username, 
  * the uid and gid with your own, so it the shares can be mounted in your home directory, 
  * and <your_username> with your //local// username on your PC
One this is set up, reboot, log in, and the U and X drives should be available in  your home directory.


====Alternative: easy mounting but not automatically====

You may prefer to not have the U and X drives mounted at boot time, but still have easy access to them. In this case, in the mount options in fstab, prefix the uid=xxx with "noauto", so it would look like this:
<code>
//stfdataXX.shef.ac.uk/home/Ac/Ac1XXX	/home/<your_username>/U-drive	cifs	noauto,uid=xxxx,gid=xxxx,credentials=/home/<your_username>/smbcredentials	0	0
//uosfstore.shef.ac.uk/shared	/home/<your_username>/X-drive	cifs	noauto,uid=xxxx,gid=xxxx,credentials=/home/<your_username>/smbcredentials	0	0
</code>

Then, when you do want to mount them, use this command:
<code>
sudo mount /home/<your_username>/U-drive
sudo mount /home/<your_username>/X-drive
</code>
To unmount, do this:
<code>
sudo umount /home/<your_username>/U-drive
sudo umount /home/<your_username>/X-drive
</code>