How To Mount Multiple Filesystems On The Same Server (2024)

This document describes how multiple ObjectiveFS filesystems can be mounted on the same server using different config directories.

Background

The ObjectiveFS config directory (default: /etc/objectivefs.env/) stores the environment variables used to mount a filesystem, such as the object store keys (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY), your ObjectiveFS license (OBJECTIVEFS_LICENSE), filesystem passphrase (OBJECTIVEFS_PASSPHRASE), memory cache size (CACHESIZE), etc. For the complete list of environment variables, see the user guide.

When mounting multiple filesystems, you can have separate config directories, one for each mount. The env=<dir> mount option can be used to select the config directory for each mount. This way, each mount can have their own separate keys, passphrase, cache sizes, etc.

Example

Here is an example of how to mount three different filesystems on the same server.

  1. Set up three ObjectiveFS config directories (e.g. /etc/ofs1.env, /etc/ofs2.env, /etc/ofs3.env).Each config directory contains the following files for the corresponding mount. The filename represents the environment variable and the file content represents the value.

    • AWS_DEFAULT_REGION
    • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
    • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
    • OBJECTIVEFS_LICENSE
    • OBJECTIVEFS_PASSPHRASE
    • DISKCACHE_PATH (optional)
    • DISKCACHE_SIZE (optional)
    • CACHESIZE (optional)
  2. Example /etc/fstab entries to mount three filesystems, each with a different config directory.

    s3://bucket1 /ofs1 objectivefs auto,_netdev,env=/etc/ofs1.env 0 0s3://bucket2 /ofs2 objectivefs auto,_netdev,env=/etc/ofs2.env 0 0s3://bucket3 /ofs3 objectivefs auto,_netdev,env=/etc/ofs3.env 0 0
    Note: To add other mount options, you can add them after the config directory separated by comma. Here is an entry using an additional mount option (mt).
    s3://bucket1 /ofs1 objectivefs auto,_netdev,env=/etc/ofs1.env,mt 0 0 
  3. Example commands if you prefer to mount the filesystems from the command line.

    $ sudo mount.objectivefs -oenv=/etc/ofs1.env s3://bucket1 /ofs1$ sudo mount.objectivefs -oenv=/etc/ofs2.env s3://bucket2 /ofs2$ sudo mount.objectivefs -oenv=/etc/ofs3.env s3://bucket3 /ofs3

Useful Notes

A few items to note when running multiple mounts on the same server.

  1. The memory cache (CACHESIZE, default: 20% per mount) is cumulative.
    You may want to reduce this value depending on the number of mounts and amount of memory available on the server.For example, four mounts (at the default 20% value) would use 80% of memory.

  2. The disk cache can be shared by all mounts on the same server if using the same DISKCACHE_PATH.
    We recommend having all mounts share the same disk cache (i.e. same DISKCACHE_PATH). This allows ObjectiveFS to manage the space efficiently. The data from different filesystems are encrypted and will not be shared across filesystems.

  3. The disk cache size is shared when using the same DISKCACHE_PATH.
    If multiple filesystems are mounted using different DISKCACHE_SIZE values and point to the same DISKCACHE_PATH, ObjectiveFS will use the minimum disk cache size and the maximum free space value.We suggest setting the DISKCACHE_SIZE and DISKCACHE_PATH on all config directories to the same value and path.

Reference

Last updated by ObjectiveFS staff, August 1, 2019
ObjectiveFS is a shared file system for OS X and Linux that automatically scales and gives you scalable cloud storage.If you have questions or article idea suggestions, please email us at support@objectivefs.com

How To Mount Multiple Filesystems On The Same Server (2024)

FAQs

Can we install more than one file system on a machine? ›

Yes, this is a common practice for example when an underlying partition with an existing filesystem is manually enlarged to utilize unused neighboring disk sectors/space ... Then the filesystem can be extended to fill the new extra space in the partition ...

How are filesystems mounted? ›

When you mount a file system, you attach that file system to a directory (mount point) and make it available to the system. The root ( / ) file system is always mounted. Any other file system can be connected or disconnected from the root ( / ) file system.

How do I list all mounted filesystems? ›

You can determine which file systems are already mounted by using the mount command. The -v displays the list of mounted file systems in verbose mode.

How to mount filesystem from one server to another in Linux? ›

Mounting a File System on Linux, Red Hat, or CentOS
  1. Log into the instance where you want to mount the file system. ...
  2. Install the NFS client using this command: sudo yum install nfs-utils.
  3. Create a directory that will be used as the mount point. ...
  4. Mount the file system. ...
  5. View the mounted file system.

How you can install multiple operating systems on the same computer? ›

How to Run Two Operating Systems on One Computer
  1. Part 1. Create a Bootable USB Drive.
  2. Part 2. Create a New Partition.
  3. Part 3. Make some Preparations for Your PC.
  4. Part 4. Install a Second Operating System.
Mar 12, 2024

Does dual booting slow down a PC? ›

Dual booting doesn't inherently slow down your computer; instead, it's a matter of how you manage resources and configure each operating system.

What is the difference between mount and file system? ›

Mounting is a process in which the operating system adds the directories and files from a storage device to the user's computer file system. The file system is attached to an empty directory, by adding so the system user can access the data that is available inside the storage device through the system file manager.

Which tool is used to perform file mounting? ›

The sshfs command is a client tool for using SSHFS to mount a remote file system from another server locally on your machine.

How do I permanently mount a file system? ›

You can mount file systems for a single session using the mount command, and permanently by editing /etc/fstab . Mounting needs to be done by an administrator, either by logging in as root or by using the sudo command. There are some cases where mounting is done automatically, like when you insert a USB flash drive.

How to check file system mount options? ›

If you want to check detailed information about a specific mount point, you can use the -T option followed by the path to the mount point. This command displays information about the file system type, the device on which it is mounted, and the options used during the mount process.

Why is filesystem mounted read-only? ›

Normally the mounted disk filesystem becomes read-only when the server or pc is not shutdown correctly.

What is the mount command for file system? ›

The mount command mounts a file system expressed as a device using the device or node:directory parameter on the directory specified by the directory parameter. After the mount command has finished, the directory specified becomes the root directory of the newly mounted file system.

How do you mount and unmount filesystems in Linux? ›

To unmount a file system in Linux, you use the 'umount' command followed by the directory where it has been mounted. The basic syntax would be, umount /path/to/file_system . In this example, we've used the 'umount' command to unmount the file system that was previously mounted at the directory '/mnt/my_usb'.

What is the difference between mount and unmount? ›

Mounted parts are assembled, while unmounted are separated from any machine or installation. When talking about mounted or unmounted parts, we refer to whether they're assembled to the machine they belong to (mounted) when the part search takes place.

How to create a filesystem in Linux and mount it? ›

To create a filesystem, there are three steps:
  1. Create partitions using fdisk or Disk Utility. ...
  2. Format the partitions using mkfs or Disk Utility.
  3. Mount the partitions using the mount command or automate it using the /etc/fstab file.

Can you run two or more operating systems on one physical machine? ›

Dual-booting is a method of running multiple OSes on one host by installing them on separate partitions of the hard drive. This way, you can choose which OS to boot into when you start your computer. For example, you could have Windows 10 on one partition and Ubuntu Linux on another, and switch between them as needed.

Can a partition have multiple file systems? ›

Each partition can be formatted with a file system or as a swap partition. Multiple partitions allow directories such as /boot, /tmp, /usr, /var, or /home to be allocated their own filesystems.

How many file systems are there in a computer? ›

Different types of file systems include Disk File System, Flash File Systems, Database File Systems, and Network File Systems, each designed for specific use cases. Examples of file systems include NTFS, FAT32, ext4, and HFS+, commonly used in Windows, embedded systems, Linux, and macOS respectively.

Can I run three operating systems on one computer? ›

Yes it is possible to have 3 operating systems on one machine. Since you already have Windows and Ubuntu dual boot, you probably have grub boot menu, where you choose between ubuntu and windows, if you install Kali, you should just get another entry in boot menu.

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