# # For a description of the syntax of this configuration file, # see scripts/kbuild/config-language.txt. # menu "Linux System Utilities" config BUSYBOX_ACPID bool "acpid" default n help acpid listens to ACPI events coming either in textual form from /proc/acpi/event (though it is marked deprecated it is still widely used and _is_ a standard) or in binary form from specified evdevs (just use /dev/input/event*). It parses the event to retrieve ACTION and a possible PARAMETER. It then spawns /etc/acpi/[/] either via run-parts (if the resulting path is a directory) or directly as an executable. N.B. acpid relies on run-parts so have the latter installed. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_ACPID_COMPAT bool "Accept and ignore redundant options" default n depends on BUSYBOX_ACPID help Accept and ignore compatibility options -g -m -s -S -v. config BUSYBOX_BLKID bool "blkid" default n select BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help Lists labels and UUIDs of all filesystems. WARNING: With all submodules selected, it will add ~8k to busybox. config BUSYBOX_DMESG bool "dmesg" default y help dmesg is used to examine or control the kernel ring buffer. When the Linux kernel prints messages to the system log, they are stored in the kernel ring buffer. You can use dmesg to print the kernel's ring buffer, clear the kernel ring buffer, change the size of the kernel ring buffer, and change the priority level at which kernel messages are also logged to the system console. Enable this option if you wish to enable the 'dmesg' utility. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_DMESG_PRETTY bool "Pretty dmesg output" default y depends on BUSYBOX_DMESG help If you wish to scrub the syslog level from the output, say 'Y' here. The syslog level is a string prefixed to every line with the form "<#>". With this option you will see: # dmesg Linux version 2.6.17.4 ..... BIOS-provided physical RAM map: BIOS-e820: 0000000000000000 - 000000000009f000 (usable) Without this option you will see: # dmesg <5>Linux version 2.6.17.4 ..... <6>BIOS-provided physical RAM map: <6> BIOS-e820: 0000000000000000 - 000000000009f000 (usable) config BUSYBOX_FBSET bool "fbset" default n help fbset is used to show or change the settings of a Linux frame buffer device. The frame buffer device provides a simple and unique interface to access a graphics display. Enable this option if you wish to enable the 'fbset' utility. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FBSET_FANCY bool "Turn on extra fbset options" default n depends on BUSYBOX_FBSET help This option enables extended fbset options, allowing one to set the framebuffer size, color depth, etc. interface to access a graphics display. Enable this option if you wish to enable extended fbset options. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FBSET_READMODE bool "Turn on fbset readmode support" default n depends on BUSYBOX_FBSET help This option allows fbset to read the video mode database stored by default as /etc/fb.modes, which can be used to set frame buffer device to pre-defined video modes. config BUSYBOX_FDFLUSH bool "fdflush" default n help fdflush is only needed when changing media on slightly-broken removable media drives. It is used to make Linux believe that a hardware disk-change switch has been actuated, which causes Linux to forget anything it has cached from the previous media. If you have such a slightly-broken drive, you will need to run fdflush every time you change a disk. Most people have working hardware and can safely leave this disabled. config BUSYBOX_FDFORMAT bool "fdformat" default n help fdformat is used to low-level format a floppy disk. config BUSYBOX_FDISK bool "fdisk" default y help The fdisk utility is used to divide hard disks into one or more logical disks, which are generally called partitions. This utility can be used to list and edit the set of partitions or BSD style 'disk slices' that are defined on a hard drive. config BUSYBOX_FDISK_SUPPORT_LARGE_DISKS bool "Support over 4GB disks" default y depends on BUSYBOX_FDISK help Enable this option to support large disks > 4GB. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FDISK_WRITABLE bool "Write support" default y depends on BUSYBOX_FDISK help Enabling this option allows you to create or change a partition table and write those changes out to disk. If you leave this option disabled, you will only be able to view the partition table. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_AIX_LABEL bool "Support AIX disklabels" default n depends on BUSYBOX_FDISK && BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FDISK_WRITABLE help Enabling this option allows you to create or change AIX disklabels. Most people can safely leave this option disabled. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_SGI_LABEL bool "Support SGI disklabels" default n depends on BUSYBOX_FDISK && BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FDISK_WRITABLE help Enabling this option allows you to create or change SGI disklabels. Most people can safely leave this option disabled. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_SUN_LABEL bool "Support SUN disklabels" default n depends on BUSYBOX_FDISK && BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FDISK_WRITABLE help Enabling this option allows you to create or change SUN disklabels. Most people can safely leave this option disabled. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_OSF_LABEL bool "Support BSD disklabels" default n depends on BUSYBOX_FDISK && BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FDISK_WRITABLE help Enabling this option allows you to create or change BSD disklabels and define and edit BSD disk slices. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FDISK_ADVANCED bool "Support expert mode" default n depends on BUSYBOX_FDISK && BUSYBOX_FEATURE_FDISK_WRITABLE help Enabling this option allows you to do terribly unsafe things like define arbitrary drive geometry, move the beginning of data in a partition, and similarly evil things. Unless you have a very good reason you would be wise to leave this disabled. config BUSYBOX_FINDFS bool "findfs" default n select BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help Prints the name of a filesystem with given label or UUID. WARNING: With all submodules selected, it will add ~8k to busybox. config BUSYBOX_FLOCK bool "flock" default n help Manage locks from shell scripts config BUSYBOX_FREERAMDISK bool "freeramdisk" default n help Linux allows you to create ramdisks. This utility allows you to delete them and completely free all memory that was used for the ramdisk. For example, if you boot Linux into a ramdisk and later pivot_root, you may want to free the memory that is allocated to the ramdisk. If you have no use for freeing memory from a ramdisk, leave this disabled. config BUSYBOX_FSCK_MINIX bool "fsck_minix" default n help The minix filesystem is a nice, small, compact, read-write filesystem with little overhead. It is not a journaling filesystem however and can experience corruption if it is not properly unmounted or if the power goes off in the middle of a write. This utility allows you to check for and attempt to repair any corruption that occurs to a minix filesystem. config BUSYBOX_MKFS_EXT2 bool "mkfs_ext2" default n help Utility to create EXT2 filesystems. config BUSYBOX_MKFS_MINIX bool "mkfs_minix" default n help The minix filesystem is a nice, small, compact, read-write filesystem with little overhead. If you wish to be able to create minix filesystems this utility will do the job for you. comment "Minix filesystem support" depends on BUSYBOX_FSCK_MINIX || BUSYBOX_MKFS_MINIX config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MINIX2 bool "Support Minix fs v2 (fsck_minix/mkfs_minix)" default y depends on BUSYBOX_FSCK_MINIX || BUSYBOX_MKFS_MINIX help If you wish to be able to create version 2 minix filesystems, enable this. If you enabled 'mkfs_minix' then you almost certainly want to be using the version 2 filesystem support. config BUSYBOX_MKFS_REISER bool "mkfs_reiser" default n help Utility to create ReiserFS filesystems. config BUSYBOX_MKFS_VFAT bool "mkfs_vfat" default n help Utility to create FAT32 filesystems. config BUSYBOX_GETOPT bool "getopt" default n help The getopt utility is used to break up (parse) options in command lines to make it easy to write complex shell scripts that also check for legal (and illegal) options. If you want to write horribly complex shell scripts, or use some horribly complex shell script written by others, this utility may be for you. Most people will wisely leave this disabled. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_GETOPT_LONG bool "Support option -l" default y if LONG_OPTS depends on BUSYBOX_GETOPT help Enable support for long options (option -l). config BUSYBOX_HEXDUMP bool "hexdump" default y help The hexdump utility is used to display binary data in a readable way that is comparable to the output from most hex editors. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_HEXDUMP_REVERSE bool "Support -R, reverse of 'hexdump -Cv'" default n depends on BUSYBOX_HEXDUMP help The hexdump utility is used to display binary data in an ascii readable way. This option creates binary data from an ascii input. NB: this option is non-standard. It's unwise to use it in scripts aimed to be portable. config BUSYBOX_HD bool "hd" default n select BUSYBOX_HEXDUMP help hd is an alias to hexdump -C. config BUSYBOX_HWCLOCK bool "hwclock" default y if ADK_TARGET_WITH_RTC default n help The hwclock utility is used to read and set the hardware clock on a system. This is primarily used to set the current time on shutdown in the hardware clock, so the hardware will keep the correct time when Linux is _not_ running. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_HWCLOCK_LONG_OPTIONS bool "Support long options (--hctosys,...)" default n depends on BUSYBOX_HWCLOCK && BUSYBOX_LONG_OPTS help By default, the hwclock utility only uses short options. If you are overly fond of its long options, such as --hctosys, --utc, etc) then enable this option. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_HWCLOCK_ADJTIME_FHS bool "Use FHS /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime" default y depends on BUSYBOX_HWCLOCK help Starting with FHS 2.3, the adjtime state file is supposed to exist at /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime instead of /etc/adjtime. If you wish to use the FHS behavior, answer Y here, otherwise answer N for the classic /etc/adjtime path. pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html#VARLIBHWCLOCKSTATEDIRECTORYFORHWCLO config BUSYBOX_IPCRM bool "ipcrm" default n select BUSYBOX_FEATURE_SUID help The ipcrm utility allows the removal of System V interprocess communication (IPC) objects and the associated data structures from the system. config BUSYBOX_IPCS bool "ipcs" default n select BUSYBOX_FEATURE_SUID help The ipcs utility is used to provide information on the currently allocated System V interprocess (IPC) objects in the system. config BUSYBOX_LOSETUP bool "losetup" default n help losetup is used to associate or detach a loop device with a regular file or block device, and to query the status of a loop device. This version does not currently support enabling data encryption. config BUSYBOX_LSPCI bool "lspci" default y depends on !ADK_PACKAGE_PCIUTILS help lspci is a utility for displaying information about PCI buses in the system and devices connected to them. This version uses sysfs (/sys/bus/pci/devices) only. config BUSYBOX_LSUSB bool "lsusb" default y depends on !ADK_PACKAGE_LSUSB help lsusb is a utility for displaying information about USB buses in the system and devices connected to them. This version uses sysfs (/sys/bus/usb/devices) only. config BUSYBOX_MDEV bool "mdev" default y help mdev is a mini-udev implementation for dynamically creating device nodes in the /dev directory. For more information, please see docs/mdev.txt config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_CONF bool "Support /etc/mdev.conf" default y depends on BUSYBOX_MDEV help Add support for the mdev config file to control ownership and permissions of the device nodes. For more information, please see docs/mdev.txt config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_RENAME bool "Support subdirs/symlinks" default y depends on BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_CONF help Add support for renaming devices and creating symlinks. For more information, please see docs/mdev.txt config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_RENAME_REGEXP bool "Support regular expressions substitutions when renaming device" default y depends on BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_RENAME help Add support for regular expressions substitutions when renaming device. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_EXEC bool "Support command execution at device addition/removal" default y depends on BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_CONF help This adds support for an optional field to /etc/mdev.conf for executing commands when devices are created/removed. For more information, please see docs/mdev.txt config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MDEV_LOAD_FIRMWARE bool "Support loading of firmwares" default y depends on BUSYBOX_MDEV help Some devices need to load firmware before they can be usable. These devices will request userspace look up the files in /lib/firmware/ and if it exists, send it to the kernel for loading into the hardware. config BUSYBOX_MKSWAP bool "mkswap" default n help The mkswap utility is used to configure a file or disk partition as Linux swap space. This allows Linux to use the entire file or partition as if it were additional RAM, which can greatly increase the capability of low-memory machines. This additional memory is much slower than real RAM, but can be very helpful at preventing your applications being killed by the Linux out of memory (OOM) killer. Once you have created swap space using 'mkswap' you need to enable the swap space using the 'swapon' utility. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MKSWAP_UUID bool "UUID support" default n depends on BUSYBOX_MKSWAP help Generate swap spaces with universally unique identifiers. config BUSYBOX_MORE bool "more" default n help more is a simple utility which allows you to read text one screen sized page at a time. If you want to read text that is larger than the screen, and you are using anything faster than a 300 baud modem, you will probably find this utility very helpful. If you don't have any need to reading text files, you can leave this disabled. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_USE_TERMIOS bool "Use termios to manipulate the screen" default y depends on BUSYBOX_MORE || BUSYBOX_TOP help This option allows utilities such as 'more' and 'top' to determine the size of the screen. If you leave this disabled, your utilities that display things on the screen will be especially primitive and will be unable to determine the current screen size, and will be unable to move the cursor. config BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID bool #No description makes it a hidden option default n config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_EXT bool "Ext filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_BTRFS bool "btrfs filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_REISERFS bool "Reiser filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_FAT bool "fat filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_HFS bool "hfs filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_JFS bool "jfs filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_UFS ### bool "ufs filesystem" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_XFS bool "xfs filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_NTFS bool "ntfs filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_ISO9660 bool "iso9660 filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_UDF bool "udf filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_LUKS bool "luks filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_LINUXSWAP bool "linux swap filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_LVM ### bool "lvm" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_CRAMFS bool "cramfs filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_HPFS ### bool "hpfs filesystem" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_ROMFS bool "romfs filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_SYSV bool "sysv filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_MINIX ### bool "minix filesystem" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### These only detect partition tables - not used (yet?) ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_MAC ### bool "mac filesystem" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_MSDOS ### bool "msdos filesystem" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_OCFS2 bool "ocfs2 filesystem" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_HIGHPOINTRAID ### bool "highpoint raid" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_ISWRAID ### bool "intel raid" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_LSIRAID ### bool "lsi raid" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_VIARAID ### bool "via raid" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_SILICONRAID ### bool "silicon raid" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_NVIDIARAID ### bool "nvidia raid" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO ### config FEATURE_VOLUMEID_PROMISERAID ### bool "promise raid" ### default n ### depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID ### help ### TODO config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_VOLUMEID_LINUXRAID bool "linuxraid" default n depends on BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help TODO config BUSYBOX_MOUNT bool "mount" default y help All files and filesystems in Unix are arranged into one big directory tree. The 'mount' utility is used to graft a filesystem onto a particular part of the tree. A filesystem can either live on a block device, or it can be accessible over the network, as is the case with NFS filesystems. Most people using BusyBox will also want to enable the 'mount' utility. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_FAKE bool "Support option -f" default n depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT help Enable support for faking a file system mount. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_VERBOSE bool "Support option -v" default n depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT help Enable multi-level -v[vv...] verbose messages. Useful if you debug mount problems and want to see what is exactly passed to the kernel. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_HELPERS bool "Support mount helpers" default y depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT help Enable mounting of virtual file systems via external helpers. E.g. "mount obexfs#-b00.11.22.33.44.55 /mnt" will in effect call "obexfs -b00.11.22.33.44.55 /mnt" Also "mount -t sometype [-o opts] fs /mnt" will try "sometype [-o opts] fs /mnt" if simple mount syscall fails. The idea is to use such virtual filesystems in /etc/fstab. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_LABEL bool "Support specifiying devices by label or UUID" default y depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT select BUSYBOX_VOLUMEID help This allows for specifying a device by label or uuid, rather than by name. This feature utilizes the same functionality as blkid/findfs. This also enables label or uuid support for swapon. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_NFS bool "Support mounting NFS file systems" default y depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT select BUSYBOX_FEATURE_HAVE_RPC select BUSYBOX_FEATURE_SYSLOG help Enable mounting of NFS file systems. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_CIFS bool "Support mounting CIFS/SMB file systems" default y depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT help Enable support for samba mounts. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_FLAGS depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT bool "Support lots of -o flags in mount" default y help Without this, mount only supports ro/rw/remount. With this, it supports nosuid, suid, dev, nodev, exec, noexec, sync, async, atime, noatime, diratime, nodiratime, loud, bind, move, shared, slave, private, unbindable, rshared, rslave, rprivate, and runbindable. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_FSTAB depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT bool "Support /etc/fstab and -a" default y help Support mount all and looking for files in /etc/fstab. config BUSYBOX_PIVOT_ROOT bool "pivot_root" default n help The pivot_root utility swaps the mount points for the root filesystem with some other mounted filesystem. This allows you to do all sorts of wild and crazy things with your Linux system and is far more powerful than 'chroot'. Note: This is for initrd in linux 2.4. Under initramfs (introduced in linux 2.6) use switch_root instead. config BUSYBOX_RDATE bool "rdate" default y help The rdate utility allows you to synchronize the date and time of your system clock with the date and time of a remote networked system using the RFC868 protocol, which is built into the inetd daemon on most systems. config BUSYBOX_RDEV bool "rdev" default n help Print the device node associated with the filesystem mounted at '/'. config BUSYBOX_READPROFILE bool "readprofile" default n help This allows you to parse /proc/profile for basic profiling. config BUSYBOX_RTCWAKE bool "rtcwake" default n help Enter a system sleep state until specified wakeup time. config BUSYBOX_SCRIPT bool "script" default n help The script makes typescript of terminal session. config BUSYBOX_SCRIPTREPLAY bool "scriptreplay" default n help This program replays a typescript, using timing information given by script -t. config BUSYBOX_SETARCH bool "setarch" default n help The linux32 utility is used to create a 32bit environment for the specified program (usually a shell). It only makes sense to have this util on a system that supports both 64bit and 32bit userland (like amd64/x86, ppc64/ppc, sparc64/sparc, etc...). config BUSYBOX_SWAPONOFF bool "swaponoff" default n help This option enables both the 'swapon' and the 'swapoff' utilities. Once you have created some swap space using 'mkswap', you also need to enable your swap space with the 'swapon' utility. The 'swapoff' utility is used, typically at system shutdown, to disable any swap space. If you are not using any swap space, you can leave this option disabled. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_SWAPON_PRI bool "Support priority option -p" default n depends on BUSYBOX_SWAPONOFF help Enable support for setting swap device priority in swapon. config BUSYBOX_SWITCH_ROOT bool "switch_root" default n help The switch_root utility is used from initramfs to select a new root device. Under initramfs, you have to use this instead of pivot_root. (Stop reading here if you don't care why.) Booting with initramfs extracts a gzipped cpio archive into rootfs (which is a variant of ramfs/tmpfs). Because rootfs can't be moved or unmounted*, pivot_root will not work from initramfs. Instead, switch_root deletes everything out of rootfs (including itself), does a mount --move that overmounts rootfs with the new root, and then execs the specified init program. * Because the Linux kernel uses rootfs internally as the starting and ending point for searching through the kernel's doubly linked list of active mount points. That's why. config BUSYBOX_UMOUNT bool "umount" default y help When you want to remove a mounted filesystem from its current mount point, for example when you are shutting down the system, the 'umount' utility is the tool to use. If you enabled the 'mount' utility, you almost certainly also want to enable 'umount'. config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_UMOUNT_ALL bool "Support option -a" default n depends on BUSYBOX_UMOUNT help Support -a option to unmount all currently mounted filesystems. comment "Common options for mount/umount" depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT || BUSYBOX_UMOUNT config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_LOOP bool "Support loopback mounts" default n depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT || BUSYBOX_UMOUNT help Enabling this feature allows automatic mounting of files (containing filesystem images) via the linux kernel's loopback devices. The mount command will detect you are trying to mount a file instead of a block device, and transparently associate the file with a loopback device. The umount command will also free that loopback device. You can still use the 'losetup' utility (to manually associate files with loop devices) if you need to do something advanced, such as specify an offset or cryptographic options to the loopback device. (If you don't want umount to free the loop device, use "umount -D".) config BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MTAB_SUPPORT bool "Support for the old /etc/mtab file" default n depends on BUSYBOX_MOUNT || BUSYBOX_UMOUNT select BUSYBOX_FEATURE_MOUNT_FAKE help Historically, Unix systems kept track of the currently mounted partitions in the file "/etc/mtab". These days, the kernel exports the list of currently mounted partitions in "/proc/mounts", rendering the old mtab file obsolete. (In modern systems, /etc/mtab should be a symlink to /proc/mounts.) The only reason to have mount maintain an /etc/mtab file itself is if your stripped-down embedded system does not have a /proc directory. If you must use this, keep in mind it's inherently brittle (for example a mount under chroot won't update it), can't handle modern features like separate per-process filesystem namespaces, requires that your /etc directory be writeable, tends to get easily confused by --bind or --move mounts, won't update if you rename a directory that contains a mount point, and so on. (In brief: avoid.) About the only reason to use this is if you've removed /proc from your kernel. endmenu