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In this guide, you’ll learn how to grant non-root users the ability to mount and unmount filesystems on Linux. While root or sudo privileges have traditionally been required, desktop environments and modern distributions often auto-mount removable media such as CD-ROMs, USB flash drives, and external disks under a user’s home directory: 
/media/USER/LABEL
For example, if john plugs in a USB drive labeled FlashDrive, it appears at: 
/media/john/FlashDrive

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Allowing Non-Root Mounts via /etc/fstab

You can configure /etc/fstab to let normal users mount and unmount specific devices without sudo. Modify the mount options field to include one of the following:
OptionDescriptionDefault
userAllow any user to mount and unmount(no)
nouserDisallow non-root mountsyes
groupAllow users belonging to the owning group(no)
ownerAllow the device’s owning user(no)
Example: permitting all users to mount /dev/sdb1 on /mnt/userdrive: 
/dev/sdb1  /mnt/userdrive  ext4  defaults,user  0 0
After editing /etc/fstab, you can test the entry without rebooting:
mount /mnt/userdrive
umount /mnt/userdrive

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Managing Mounts with systemd

systemd can manage both static mounts and on-demand automounts via unit files in /etc/systemd/system/. Units must be named after the mount point by replacing slashes with hyphens and appending .mount or .automount.

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Creating a Mount Unit

  1. Create the file /etc/systemd/system/mnt-external.mount: 
    sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/mnt-external.mount
  2. Populate it: 
    [Unit]
Description=External data disk

[Mount]
What=/dev/disk/by-uuid/56C11DCC5D2E1334
Where=/mnt/external
Type=ntfs
Options=defaults

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
FieldPurpose
DescriptionBrief description of the mount
WhatDevice path or UUID (/dev/disk/by-uuid/...)
WhereMount point directory (/mnt/external)
TypeFilesystem type (ntfs, ext4, etc.)
OptionsMount options (same as in /etc/fstab)
WantedByTarget to activate the mount on (multi-user.target)
The filename mnt-external.mount must exactly match the Where path /mnt/external (slashes → hyphens).
  1. Reload systemd and start the mount: 
    sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start mnt-external.mount
  2. Check status: 
    sudo systemctl status mnt-external.mount
    Sample output: 
    ● mnt-external.mount — External data disk
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/mnt-external.mount; disabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (mounted) since Mon 2019-08-19 22:27:02 -03; 14s ago
      What: /dev/sdb1
      Where: /mnt/external
  3. To auto-mount at boot: 
    sudo systemctl enable mnt-external.mount

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Creating an Automount Unit

An automount unit triggers the mount only when the directory is accessed. You’ll need both the .mount and a corresponding .automount file.
  1. Create /etc/systemd/system/mnt-external.automount: 
    sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/mnt-external.automount
  2. Add: 
    [Unit]
Description=Automount External Data Disk

[Automount]
Where=/mnt/external

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
  3. Reload, start, and enable: 
    sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start mnt-external.automount
sudo systemctl enable mnt-external.automount
Now, whenever you ls /mnt/external, systemd will mount the disk automatically.

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