Challenge, Medium,  on  Linux

Make a Filesystem Mount Survive a Reboot

This challenge demonstrates a common pitfall when working with Linux storage: a plain mount command creates a temporary mount that does not survive a reboot.

The server has an additional drive (/dev/vdb) formatted as ext4. It contains some files on it but is not currently mounted.

Start by creating a mount point directory at /mnt/data and mounting the drive there:

Hint: Mounting a drive

For a refresher on how to mount a drive, see the Mount a Drive with Existing Data challenge.

The mount you just created lives solely in the kernel's in-memory mount table. When the system reboots, the kernel starts fresh and all runtime mounts are lost.

Your task is to configure the system so that /dev/vdb is automatically mounted at /mnt/data every time the machine boots. Once you're confident in your configuration, reboot the machine:

sudo reboot
Hint: Making mounts persistent

The kernel doesn't remember mounts between boots. You need to configure the system to recreate the mount automatically during the boot process. There is more than one way to achieve this on a modern Linux system.

Hint: Testing before rebooting

Before rebooting, it's a good idea to validate your configuration. Try unmounting the drive, then see if the system can bring it back automatically using the configuration you've added.

How to Author Challenges on iximiuz Labs

Instead of providing a subpar online editing experience, iximiuz Labs offers a helper CLI tool called labctl, allowing you to use your favorite text editor (or a full-featured IDE) to write content from the comfort of your local machine.

Install labctl CLI

curl -sf https://labs.iximiuz.com/cli/install.sh | sh

This will download and install the latest version of the labctl CLI. You only need to do this once per workstation.

Authorize labctl

labctl auth login

This will open a browser window asking you to authorize labctl to access your account. You need to do it after a fresh install of labctl and repeat it whenever the auth session expires.

Pull challenge content

labctl content pull challenge storage-persistent-mount

This will create a local copy of the challenge content in a directory named storage-persistent-mount. You only need to do this once per challenge.

Stream your changes

labctl content push -fw challenge storage-persistent-mount

Run this command in a separate terminal to continuously upload your changes to the server while editing the challenge in your favorite text editor or IDE.

You can also use labctl to create, list, and delete your content. Learn more about the available commands: labctl content --help

Start challenge