Is it possible to change the mount points without formatting the drive or reinstalling the OS?

[David McGlone]

On Sunday 07 June 2009 11:43:20 am steven vollom wrote:
> On Sunday 07 June 2009 08:52:16 am you wrote:
> (Trim)
>
> > Steven, I was going to edit your fstab file so you can see how it's done
> > by example. I will post mine at the bottom of this e-mail, so you can use
> > it as an example, but if you would post yours, I could show you how to
> > tailor it for your specific setup, so you can learn.
>
> (Trim)
>
> # /etc/fstab: static file system information.
> #
> # Use 'vol_id --uuid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
> # device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
> # that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
> #
> # <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
> proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
> # / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
> UUID=6747e921-8b72-4f24-b6a8-c86c919d869a /               ext3
> relatime,errors=remount-ro 0       1
> # swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
> UUID=cc9ed070-52d6-41df-81f4-985108e1436d none            swap    sw
> 0       0
> /dev/scd0       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0
> /dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0

Here is my fstab:

david at buddy:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'vol_id --uuid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=0fa7d0d9-9a63-4f29-929f-1d10cc8fc48c /               ext3    
relatime,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /d was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=8812-A612  /media/d              vfat    utf8,auto,user 0       1
# /develop was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=8255-7C40  /media/develop        vfat    utf8,auto,user 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=a37d4458-483d-46ee-a4e1-ec5d6a270d60 /home           ext3    relatime        
0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=97a2c1b2-8108-4a71-bacf-20ca1d2d1de4 none            swap    sw              
0       0
/dev/scd0       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0


I only have 2 extra partitions that are separate from /home and /, I named 
them "d" and "develop.

If I ever wanted to change my mount point for these partitions, say to /home/d 
and /home/develop then first I would make 2 directories in my home directory 
named "d" and "develop"

Then I would unmount the partitions I am going to move with this command:

sudo umount /media/d
sudo umount /media/develop

Then I would open my fstab file as root in kate or any text editor of your 
choice and I would change these two lines:

# /d was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=8812-A612  /media/d              vfat    utf8,auto,user 0       1
# /develop was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=8255-7C40  /media/develop        vfat    utf8,auto,user 0       1

To read this:

# /d was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=8812-A612  /home/david/d              vfat    utf8,auto,user 0       1
# /develop was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=8255-7C40  /home/david/develop        vfat    utf8,auto,user 0       1

Finally re-mount your partitions using this command:

assuming you open a console that is already in your home directory:

sudo mount d
sudo mount develop

Thats it.

There is a shortcut to mount everything with 1 command, but I think your 
better off breaking it down, to better understand before you start using 
shortcuts.

Hope this better helps you understand the basics of fstab. Keep in mind I 
tailored these entries to suit me, Other than the paths to the mount points, 
the "auto" and "user" options are my choice and not the system. Your's will 
probably read UID=47, GID=1000 or something similar. I recommend you keep 
those settings because what I have. I don't think it is very safe for a 
beginner.

-- 
Blessings,
David M.
http://www.dmcentral.net