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External HDD setup

Step-by-step guide to partition, format and auto-mount an external drive with GPT and exFAT for use across Windows, macOS and Linux.


Format drive

Section titled “Format drive”

  1. Identify drive

    Section titled “Identify drive”
    Terminal window
    # Identify the target drive, i.e., /dev/sde
    lsblk

  2. Unmount the partition

    Section titled “Unmount the partition”
    Terminal window
    sudo umount /dev/sde*

  3. Install gdisk

    Section titled “Install gdisk”
    Terminal window
    sudo apt install gdisk exfat-fuse exfatprogs -y

  4. Start gdisk on the disk

    Section titled “Start gdisk on the disk”

    Make sure you use the disk /dev/sde not the partition /dev/sde1

    Terminal window
    sudo gdisk /dev/sde

  5. Delete the existing partition

    Section titled “Delete the existing partition”
    • Type d to delete the existing partition (/dev/sde1).
    • Defaults to partition 1.

  6. Create a new partition table

    Section titled “Create a new partition table”
    • Type o to create a new GPT partition table.
    • Confirm with Y.

  7. Create the partition

    Section titled “Create the partition”
    • Type n to create a new partition.
    • Follow the prompts to create a partition with the default values:
      • Partition number: press Enter (default is 1)
      • First sector: press Enter (default)
      • Last sector: press Enter (default)
      • Partition type: 0700 (Microsoft basic data)

  8. Write changes

    Section titled “Write changes”
    • Type w to write the changes.
    • Confirm with Y.

  9. Format partition as exFAT

    Section titled “Format partition as exFAT”
    Terminal window
    sudo mkfs.exfat -n MYDRIVE /dev/sde1

  10. Verify partition and filesystem

    Section titled “Verify partition and filesystem”
    Terminal window
    sudo parted /dev/sde print

Mount drive

Section titled “Mount drive”

  1. Identify mounted drives

    Section titled “Identify mounted drives”

    The first step is to identify the drives that are currently mounted on your system. This will help you locate the external HDD and determine where it’s currently mounted, if at all.

    Terminal window
    lsblk

  2. Obtain drive UUID

    Section titled “Obtain drive UUID”

    Each drive in Linux has a unique identifier called the UUID. This step shows you how to obtain the UUID of your external HDD, which will be used for reliable mounting.

    Terminal window
    sudo blkid /dev/sda1

  3. Create a mount point

    Section titled “Create a mount point”

    A mount point is a directory where your external HDD will be accessed. In this step, you’ll create a directory that will serve as the location for your drive’s mount.

    Terminal window
    sudo mkdir -p {{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}}

  4. Change ownership of mount point

    Section titled “Change ownership of mount point”

    After creating the mount point, it’s important to set the appropriate ownership and permissions for the directory. This ensures that the user or group can access the external HDD properly.

    Terminal window
    sudo chown -R $USER:$USER {{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}} && sudo chmod -R 755 {{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}}

  5. Modify fstab for auto-mount

    Section titled “Modify fstab for auto-mount”

    The /etc/fstab file controls how filesystems are mounted during system boot. This step shows you how to modify fstab to automatically mount your external HDD every time the system starts.

    Terminal window
    sudo nano /etc/fstab

  6. Add mount entry to fstab

    Section titled “Add mount entry to fstab”

    You’ll add a new line to the fstab file, below other entries, to specify how your external HDD should be mounted. This entry ensures the drive is automatically mounted at boot time using its UUID.

    Terminal window
    UUID={{EXTERNAL_HDD_UUID_VAR}}  {{EXTERNAL_HDD_PATH_VAR}}       ext4            auto,nofail,noatime,rw,users,exec  0    0

  7. Unmount external HDD

    Section titled “Unmount external HDD”

    Before making permanent changes, unmount the drive to ensure it’s safely disconnected from the system. This step avoids any potential data corruption while you edit configuration files.

    Terminal window
    sudo umount /dev/sda1

  8. Reboot or remount

    Section titled “Reboot or remount”

    Once all changes are made, reboot your system to apply the fstab modifications and ensure that your external HDD mounts correctly at startup.

    Terminal window
    sudo reboot