CIFS fstab automount

CIFS driver

sudo dnf install cifs-utils

/etc/fstab entry

//server/share /mnt/mountpoint cifs credentials=/path/to/credentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777,nofail,x-systemd.automount,x-systemd.requires=network-online.target,x-systemd.after=network-online.target 0 0

Options in that line:

• credentials=/path/to/credentials: path to a file with the SMB username and password (keeps secrets out of world-readable fstab).
• uid=1000: local Linux user ID that owns files on the mount. Removing this usually results in root ownership.
• gid=1000: local Linux group ID for files on the mount.
• file_mode=0660: Linux permission bits applied to files.
• dir_mode=0770: same idea for directories.
• nofail: boot continues even if the share is unreachable.
• x-systemd.automount: mount on first access rather than at boot.
• x-systemd.requires=network-online.target / x-systemd.after=network-online.target: wait until the network is up before attempting the mount.

Finding uid and gid

id prints both for the current user (or pass a username):

id
id someuser

Example output: uid=1000(someuser) gid=1000(someuser) .... Use those numbers in uid= / gid=.

Or read /etc/passwd. Each line is name:x:uid:gid:gecos:home:shell, so the third field is uid and the fourth is gid:

getent passwd someuser
# someuser:x:1000:1000:Some User:/home/someuser:/bin/bash

Credentials file

For example, /root/.mountpoint.credentials:

username=your_username
password=your_password

Protect it, then test:

sudo chmod 600 /root/.mountpoint.credentials
sudo mount -a