Solaris Transition Guide

/etc/vfstab File

In the SunOS release 5.7 software, the virtual file system file /etc/vfstab replaces the /etc/fstab file. In the virtual file system architecture, the /etc/vfstab file provides default file system parameters used by the generic commands for file system management. For information about these commands, see "Generic File System Commands".

In addition to the name change, the /etc/vfstab file is different from the /etc/fstab file in the following ways:

Table 9-9 /etc/vfstab File Field Names and Content

Field Name 

Content 

device to mount

The entry in this field may be any of the following: 

The block special device for local UFS file systems (for example, /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0)

The resource name for remote file systems (for example, myserver:/export/home for an NFS system)

The name of the slice on which to swap (for example, /dev/dsk/c0t3d0s1)

The /proc directory and proc file system type

CD-ROM as hsfs file system type

/dev/diskette as pcfs or ufs file system type

This field is also used to specify swap file systems. For more information on remote file systems, see NFS Administration Guide .

device to fsck

The raw (character) special device that corresponds to the file system identified by the device to mount field (for example, /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0). This field determines the raw interface that is used by fsck. Use a dash (-) when there is no applicable device, such as for a read-only file system or a network-based file system.

mount point

The default mount-point directory (for example, /usr for /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s6).

FS type

The type of file system identified by the device to mount field.

fsck pass

The pass number used by fsck to determine whether to check a file system. When the field contains a dash (-), the file system is not checked. When the field contains a value of 1 or more, the file system is checked; non-UFS file systems with a 0 fsck pass are checked. For UFS file systems only, when the field contains a 0, the file system is not checked. When fsck is run on multiple UFS file systems that have fsck pass values greater than 1 and the preen option (-o p) is used, fsck automatically checks the file systems on different disks in parallel to maximize efficiency. When the field contains a value of 1, the file system is checked sequentially. Otherwise, the value of the pass number does not have any effect. In SunOS 5.6 system software, the fsck pass field does not explicitly specify the order in which file systems are checked.

automount?

yes or no for whether the file system should be automatically mounted by mountall when the system is booted. An auto in the fourth column of your SunOS release 4 /etc/fstab would translate to a "yes" in this column; a noauto, a "no." Note that this field has nothing to do with the automount program.

mount options

A list of comma-separated options (with no spaces) that are used in mounting the file system. Use a dash (-) to show no options. See the mount(1M) man page for a list of the available options.

For detailed information about the /etc/vfstab file, see System Administration Guide, Volume I.