pmount is a command-line utility that allows normal users to mount arbitrary hotpluggable devices, such as USB drives, external hard drives, and digital cameras, without requiring root privileges.
Traditionally, mounting a filesystem requires superuser (root) privileges because it involves accessing and modifying the system’s directory hierarchy. However, this is not always convenient or practical, especially for end-users who need to frequently access removable storage devices.
With pmount, users can mount hotpluggable devices using the mount point specified in the /etc/fstab file, or automatically determine a suitable mount point based on device properties such as the filesystem type and label.
pmount also provides a number of options for controlling the mount behavior, such as specifying the mount point or file system type, setting permissions and ownership on the mounted filesystem, and specifying custom mount options.
By allowing normal users to mount removable storage devices, pmount simplifies the process of accessing and using external storage, while also helping to improve the security of the system by limiting the exposure of privileged accounts.
pmount Command Examples
1. Mount a device below `/media/` (using device as mount point):
# pmount /dev/to/block/device
2. Mount a device with a specific filesystem type to `/media/label`:
# pmount --type filesystem /dev/to/block/device label
3. Mount a CD-ROM (filesystem type ISO9660) in read-only mode:
# pmount --type iso9660 --read-only /dev/cdrom
4. Mount an NTFS-formatted disk, forcing read-write access:
# pmount --type ntfs --read-write /dev/sdX
5. Display all mounted removable devices:
# pmount