Linux From Scratch: Version 5.1-pre1
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# Creating the /etc/fstab file

The `/etc/fstab` file is used by some programs to determine where partitions are to be mounted by default, which file systems must be checked and in which order. Create a new file systems table like this:

    cat > /etc/fstab << "EOF"
    # Begin /etc/fstab

    # file system  mount-point  fs-type  options         dump  fsck-order

    /dev/xxx      /            fff      defaults        1     1
    /dev/yyy      swap         swap     pri=1           0     0
    proc          /proc        proc     defaults        0     0
    devpts        /dev/pts     devpts   gid=4,mode=620  0     0
    shm           /dev/shm     tmpfs    defaults        0     0

    # End /etc/fstab
    EOF

Of course, replace `xxx`, `yyy` and `fff` with the values appropriate for your system -- for example `hda2`, `hda5` and `reiserfs`. For all the details on the six fields in this table, see man 5 fstab.

When using a reiserfs partition, the 1 1 at the end of the line should be replaced with 0 0, as such a partition does not need to be dumped or checked

The `/dev/shm` mount point for tmpfs is included to allow enabling POSIX shared memory. Your kernel must have the required support built into it for this to work -- more about this in the next section. Please note that currently very little software actually uses POSIX shared memory. Therefore you can consider the `/dev/shm` mount point optional. For more information, see `Documentation/filesystems/tmpfs.txt` in the kernel source tree.

There are other lines which you may consider adding to your `fstab` file. One example is a line to use if you intend to use USB devices:

    usbfs       /proc/bus/usb  usbfs    defaults    0     0

This option will of course only work if you have the relevant support compiled into your kernel.

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