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Asked: 2024-09-26T18:23:23+05:30 In:

How can I configure Ubuntu Server 20.04 to automatically mount USB drives using Upstart?

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to automatically mount USB drives on my Ubuntu Server 20.04 setup using Upstart, but I’ve hit a wall and could use some help. I’ve read a bit about Upstart and how it works with service management, but I’m wondering how to adapt it for automatic mounting of USB drives.

Here’s where I’m currently stuck: every time I plug in a USB drive, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t mount automatically. Instead, I have to manually mount it each time, which is pretty tedious, especially since I frequently need to access external drives. I’ve looked into udev rules but decided I wanted to give Upstart a try since it seems like a cleaner method for managing services.

From what I understand, I need to create an Upstart job that listens for the USB device being added. The problem is that I’m not quite sure how to correctly define that job, including where to specify the mount directory and whether I need to handle unmounting when I remove the USB. Plus, I’ve read that there are potential issues with permissions if the drive doesn’t mount under the right user context, which makes me even more hesitant.

I’m also a bit confused about using UUIDs for the drives. Should I be using those for my mount points, or can I get away with just using the device name like `/dev/sdb1`? I’ve seen conflicting advice on this, which only adds to my frustration.

If anyone has experience with this or has successfully implemented automatic USB mounting with Upstart on Ubuntu Server 20.04, I’d really appreciate your guidance. Any snippets of code or step-by-step instructions would be incredibly helpful! I’m really looking to simplify this process so I can focus on other tasks without worrying about manually mounting drives. Thanks in advance for any insights you can share!

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    2 Answers



    1. Auto Mount USB Drives Using Upstart

      Help with Auto Mounting USB Drives on Ubuntu Server 20.04

      So, it sounds like you’re really trying to get the whole USB mounting thing automated on your Ubuntu Server setup. I totally get how frustrating it can be, especially when you just want to plug in a drive and get to work!

      Creating an Upstart Job

      To create an Upstart job that automatically mounts USB drives, you’ll want to create a new job file. You can do this in the /etc/init directory. Here’s a simple example you can use to get started:

      
description "Mount USB drives"

start on udev 
stop on runlevel [!2345]

exec /usr/local/bin/mount-usb.sh

      In this job, we're listening for udev events, which will trigger our script when a USB drive is added.

      Creating the Mount Script

      Now, let's create that mount-usb.sh script. You'll want to save it in /usr/local/bin/ and make it executable. Here's a really basic example of what the script could look like:

      
#!/bin/bash

# Get the device name
DEVICE=$(lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE | grep "disk" | awk '{print $1}' | tail -n 1)

# Set the mount point
MOUNT_POINT="/media/usb"

# Check if the mount point exists, create it if it doesn't
[ ! -d $MOUNT_POINT ] && mkdir -p $MOUNT_POINT

# Mount the USB drive
mount /dev/$DEVICE $MOUNT_POINT

      Make sure to give your script executable permissions:

      
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mount-usb.sh

      Handling Unmounting

      You’ll also want to make sure that you unmount the USB drive when it’s removed. You can set up another Upstart job for that:

      
description "Unmount USB drives"

start on stop-event
stop on runlevel [!2345]

exec /usr/local/bin/unmount-usb.sh

      Your unmount-usb.sh script could be something like this:

      
#!/bin/bash

# Unmount the USB drive
umount /media/usb

      Using UUIDs

      About UUIDs, I personally think they’re a safer way to mount, especially since device names might change (like /dev/sdb1 becoming /dev/sdc1 when you plug in another device). You can find the UUIDs for your drives by running:

      
blkid

      Then you can adjust your mount commands in your scripts to use the UUIDs instead.

      Permissions Issues

      As for permissions, you’ll need to make sure that the user running the Upstart jobs has the correct permissions to access the USB drive. You may need to adjust user settings or set permissions on the mount point.

      Hope this helps you get started on automating the USB mounting! Just take it one step at a time, and don't hesitate to ask for further clarification if something's not working as you hoped!




    2. Automatic USB Mounting with Upstart on Ubuntu Server 20.04

      To achieve automatic mounting of USB drives on your Ubuntu Server 20.04 using Upstart, you can create an Upstart job that listens for the insertion of USB devices. First, create a new Upstart job file in `/etc/init/`, e.g., `usb-mount.conf`. In this file, you can specify the following content to monitor USB device events: 

          description "Automount USB drives"
    start on udev: DEVTYPE="disk"
    task
        exec /bin/bash -c 'mount -o uid=1000,gid=1000 /dev/disk/by-id/$DEVNAME /media/usb'
    stop on runlevel [016]

      Make sure to replace `/media/usb` with your desired mount point, and use the device’s UUID instead of the device name for more reliability. You can find the UUIDs by running `blkid`. It’s also important to consider unmounting the drives when they are removed. Incorporate an additional rule using `stop on` to listen for the removal event and unmount the device accordingly. To handle permission issues, ensure that the mounting command is set to run as a user who has the permission to access the mount point, or consider using a dedicated user/group for that purpose.


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