Auto-Mounting an SMB Share on Debian

This guide provides steps to auto-mount an SMB share on Debian using a systemd mount unit and NetworkManager-wait-online.service.

Prerequisites

Ensure cifs-utils is installed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install cifs-utils

Method: Using a Systemd Mount Unit

Step 1: Create Mount Point

Ensure the mount point directory exists:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/media_storage

Step 2: Create Credentials File

Create a file to store your SMB credentials:

sudo nano /etc/smbcredentials

Add the following lines:

username=asad
password=test

Secure the credentials file:

sudo chmod 600 /etc/smbcredentials

Step 3: Create Systemd Mount Unit File

Create a new systemd mount unit file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/mnt-media_storage.mount

Add the following content to the file:

[Unit]
Description=Mount SMB Share
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target
Requires=network-online.target

[Mount]
What=//10.10.12.74/media_storage
Where=/mnt/media_storage
Type=cifs
Options=credentials=/etc/smbcredentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Step 4: Reload Systemd

Reload the systemd daemon to recognize the new unit file:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Step 5: Enable and Start the Mount Unit

Enable the mount unit to start at boot:

sudo systemctl enable mnt-media_storage.mount

Start the mount unit immediately:

sudo systemctl start mnt-media_storage.mount

Step 6: Verify the Mount

Check if the share is mounted:

df -h

List the contents of the mounted directory to ensure it's working:

ls /mnt/media_storage

Additional Configuration

Ensure that the system waits for the network to be fully up:

Step 1: Enable NetworkManager-wait-online Service

Enable and start the NetworkManager-wait-online.service:

sudo systemctl enable NetworkManager-wait-online.service
sudo systemctl start NetworkManager-wait-online.service

Step 2: Verify Service

Check the status of the service to ensure it's working properly:

sudo systemctl status NetworkManager-wait-online.service

Troubleshooting

• Check for errors in system logs:

  sudo journalctl -xeu mnt-media_storage.mount

• Verify network connectivity to the SMB server:

  ping 10.10.12.74

Following these steps should help you auto-mount an SMB share on Debian, ensuring it is available at boot time.