mount

mounts file systems 

Command

SYNOPSIS

mount [-o option] [-v|-q] object path

DESCRIPTION

The mount utility grafts a file system object onto the file tree at the point indicated by path. mount can graft objects in three different ways. Not all operating systems support all three ways.

Remote Drive Mounts or Network Mounts: 

This method maps a drive letter to a network share point.

When you specify + as the value of path, mount assigns the next drive letter available alphabetically.

Mounts created using this method optionally persist over a logon of the current user.

You may specify path in the form of a UNC name (that is, //hostname/sharepoint) or in the form hostname:/sharepoint).

Here are a couple of examples: 

mount //tkbuild/share s:/
mount tkbuild:/share +
Substitution Mounts: 

This method substitutes a drive letter for a path name.

When you specify + as the value of path, mount assigns the next drive letter available alphabetically.

Mounts created using this method do not persist over a reboot.

This method is available for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/2008/8/2012.

For example, 

mount c:/winnt w:/
File System Mounts: 

This method mounts a Windows volume into a subdirectory of the file system or a drive. For example: 

mount d:/  c:/d_drive

or 

mount //?/Volume{2a537b5c-924e-11d7-a242-806e6f6e6963}/ c:/mnt/flash_card

Note:

You should be careful with this method because it is possible to create a recursive mount such that programs that walk the file tree loop forever.

For example, the command 

mount c:/ c:/dir

makes the following infinite path valid: 

c:/dir/dir/dir/dir/dir/.../dir

Similarly, the commands 

mount d:/ c:/d_dir
mount c:/ d:/c_dir

make the following infinite path valid: 

c:/d_dir/c_dir/d_dir/c_dir/.../c_dir

Mounts created using this method persist until manually removed.

This method is only available on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/2008/8/2012.

The mount utility determines the type of mount to use based on how the object and path arguments are specified.

object path Mount type used
//?/Volume{...} anything If the object is a valid Windows object, this is treated as a file system mount; otherwise, this is treated as a UNC name.
UNC name anything network mount
machine_name:/pathname anything network mount
pathname drive root substitution mount
other anything file system mount

When you specify no arguments, mount displays all current network shares, volume mounts, and substs. For example: 

$ mount

C:/mnt/old_x/ on //?/Volume{2a537b5c-924e-11d7-a242-806e6f6e6963}/      read/write
C:/mnt/old_i/ on //?/Volume{2a537b5d-924e-11d7-a242-806e6f6e6963}/      read/write
C:/mnt/20G/ on //?/Volume{e1587f8c-e325-11d7-920f-806e6f6e6963}/        read/write
C:/mnt/syjet/ on //?/Volume{7d665155-9920-11d7-a24b-00018036a2fe}/      read/write
A:/        on //?/Volume{cc91f042-920f-11d7-9b28-806e6f6e6963}/ read/write
C:/        on //?/Volume{022cd01d-920f-11d7-ad0b-806e6f6e6963}/ read/write
D:/        on //?/Volume{cc91f043-920f-11d7-9b28-806e6f6e6963}/ read/write
E:/        on //?/Volume{cc91f044-920f-11d7-9b28-806e6f6e6963}/ read/write
M:/        on //MYHOST-AFS/auto1        read/write
N:/        on //myofficemachine/c$    read/write
X:/        on //mybuildserver/build3   read/write
Y:/        on //mysambabox/joe read/write
Z:/        on //myfileserver/users/joe     read/write

Options

-o option 

specifies optional information for mount to use. The following values for option can be specified.

u[ser]=username 

specifies the user name to be used when mounting remote drives (if necessary). If a user name is needed and none is specified using this option, mount uses the current user name.

p[assword]=password 

specifies the password to be used when mounting remote drives. If a password is required and you do not specify one with this option, you are prompted to provide it. Normally, no password is required if the machine is already connected.

per[sistent]=[yes|no] 

specifies whether or not the mounts to remote drives are persistent across reboots. If this option is not specified, the default is yes (that is, remote drive mounts are persistent).

-q 

does not prompt you for a password, If a password is required and not specified on the command line with the -o p=password option, the mount will fail.

-v 

displays information about the actions performed by mount (verbose mode). Normally, mount produces no output unless an error occurs. When used with no other arguments, mount lists all Windows volumes even if they are not mounted anywhere.

DIAGNOSTICS

Possible exit status values are:

0 

Successful completion.

>0 

An error occurred.

PORTABILITY

Windows 2000. Windows XP. Windows Server 2003. Windows Vista. Windows 7. Windows Server 2008. Windows 8. Windows Server 2012.

This version of the mount utility does not support the concept of a mnttab, it uses Windows-specific ways of determining if something is a mount point or not. See the DESCRIPTION section for details on persistence.

AVAILABILITY

MKS Toolkit for System Administrators
MKS Toolkit for Developers
MKS Toolkit for Interoperability
MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers
MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers
MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers 64-Bit Edition

SEE ALSO

Commands:
umount

MKS Toolkit 9.5 Documentation Build 3.