/etc/fstab is the configuration file which contains the information about all available partitions and indicates how and where they are mounted.

An example of a fstab file:

# <file system> <dir>       <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
tmpfs           /tmp        tmpfs   nodev,nosuid    0       0
/dev/sda5       /           ext4    defaults        0       1
/dev/sda6       /home       ext4    defaults        0       2
/dev/sda8       /mnt/dados  auto    defaults        0       2
  • The column <file system> refers to the the device where the file system is. Alternatively, an UUID or label can be specified here.
  • The column <dir> refers to the mount point, which place should the device be mounted.
  • The column <type> refers to the filesystem type; auto can be specified if the filesystem should be detected automatically.
  • The column <options> refers to filesystem-specific options.
  • The column <dump> is used by the utility dump to specify the dumping schedule.
  • The column <pass>, controls the order used by fsck to verify the file systems. Usually the root device is set to 1 and other devices are set to either 2 (fsck after the root file system) or 0 (no fsck).

Options can be found by typing man mount.<file system type>