One of the most common tasks for Linux users is to mount external storage devices such as USB drives or SD cards. While this may seem like a daunting task for beginners, it’s actually quite straightforward once you get the hang of it. In this guide, we’ll teach you how to mount a USB drive in Linux step-by-step.
Identifying the USB Drive
Once your USB drive is plugged in, you have to identify it in the system. You can do this by running the following command in your terminal:
lsblk
This command will display all block devices (hard drives, USB drives, etc.) on your system, their mount points, and the amount of storage they have. Your USB drive will typically be listed as /dev/sdb1 or a similar location, but this can vary.
Creating a Mount Point
Next, you need to create a directory which will serve as the mount point for the USB drive. Any directory can be used as a mount point, but commonly a directory within /mnt or /media is used.
Here’s how to create a directory in the /media folder:
sudo mkdir /media/usb
In this case, /media/usb is the mount point we’ll be using.
Mounting the USB Drive
After the mount point is ready, you can proceed to mount the USB drive by running the following command (replace /dev/sdb1 with your USB drive location and /media/usb with your mount point):
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb
If the command runs successfully, your USB drive is now mounted and ready for use!
Unmounting the USB Drive
When you’re done using the USB drive, you can unmount it using the following command. Just replace /media/usb with your mount point:
sudo umount /media/usb
And that’s it! Now you know how to mount a USB drive in Linux. It’s an essential skill to have, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll find that it’s quite easy to do.