Mount NAS Partitions at starting up

[MarcDriver]

Hello,

I have tried on various forums (elementary OS and Ubuntu FR, SYNOLOGY support)) to find a solution, but in vain.
maybe yu can help;

I will try to explain as follow :
I'm dual-booting Windows 11 - Atlas OS / Elementary OS 7.1 / 8.0

Under Windows I use Samba.

Under Elementary OS, I use the Winows and SMB network.

But I can't “save as” under some programs because the partitions aren't mounted.

I've tried making a fstab like this:

/etc/fstab: static file system information. # # Use 'blkid' to print the unique universal identifier of a # device. # device; this can be used with UUID= as a more robust way of naming devices # which works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5). # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> PARTUUID=f776446b-e7c5-461b-a90d-56e4d7162dc5 /boot/efi vfat umask=0077 0 0 UUID=ca88a9e4-e6b0-4261-b9a2-f95c18dace45 / ext4 noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1 /dev/mapper/cryptswap none swap defaults 0 0 # Mount Thunderbird USB key on /media/usb1 mount /dev/sdc1 /media/usb1 # Mount SYNERGIE 1/Documents //192.168.1.11/Documents /media/documents cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,iocharset=utf8,gid=1000,uid=1000,_netdev,vers=3.0 0 0 # Mount SYNERGY 1/Music # //192.168.1.11/music /media/music cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,iocharset=utf8,gid=1000,uid=1000,_netdev,vers=3.0 0 0 # Mount SYNERGY 1/Video # //192.168.1.11/video /media/videos cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,ioccharset=utf8,gid=1000,uid=1000,_netdev,vers=3.0 0 0

But I get this :
marc@VOGN-ROG:~$ sudo mount -av [sudo] Password for marc : /boot/efi: already mounted none : ignored / : ignored none : ignored mount: /media/Documents: impossible to mount //192.168.1.11/Documents read-only.

With Synology Support here are the last steps:

We have tested the Marc account and the mytadmin account with the password, and there are no connection problems. Both user accounts can connect to the Documents shared folder via the smbclient command.

[url=https://postimg.cc/fJNxKkk4][img]https://i.postimg.cc/fJNxKkk4/SYNOLOGY-2025-02-25-Image-1.png[/img][/url]

If you're still having mounting problems, please check the permissions of the /media/Documents directory. It should have read/write permissions.

Alternatively, you can also contact the Elementary OS technical support team for further assistance, as we are not familiar with Elementary OS.

We hope this helps, and please let us know if you need further assistance.

I then changed the permissions by recreating the /media/Documents folder as follows:
marc@VOGN-ROG:~$ sudo mkdir -m 777 /media/Documents
I also tried to remount my NAS directory by doing the following, but without success!
arc@VOGN-ROG:~$ sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.11/Documents /media/Documents -o user=mytadmin,password='&PN$z43i8\hR#C#DzkGkgR?yFpTx7mC9RehC#cDp',soft,iocharset=utf8,nounix,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777,nocase,vers=3,02,noserverino,mfsymlinks mount: /media/Documents: bad option; for several filesystems (e.g. nfs, cifs) you might need a /sbin/mount.<type> helper program.

That's where I'm at.

To tell you the truth, I've also tried it on the Ubuntu forum https://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?pid=22826188#p22826188

**Maybe someone will have the little idea that will change everything?**

Best regards to all

[jeremypw]

Have you tried using "Connect to Server" as a Windows share? Although if it fails manually this may also fail. You could also try WebDav or SSH if your server supports it as these protocols tend to work better on Linux. Unfortunately I do not have a NAS atm. Not sure this is a Files issue unless you can connect with another file manager like Nautilus but not Files. But I'll leave open to allow more people to contribute.

If your NAS is running on Linux then you may like to post your Samba config file (/etc/samba/smb.conf) for comment. I seem to recall the name resolve order made a difference.

[MarcDriver]

I have made this reply by answering to the mail I received 👍
Hi !

Thank you for your reply.
Yes I used "Connect to Server" as a Windows share and it works.
But each time I start my computer I have to mount each NAS Directory and I would like to do it automatically at staring my computer.

It also works using FTP but I do not know how to do it automatically as for samba server.

Best regards
Marc Driver

[jeremypw]

If "Connect to Server" works then it should just be a matter of getting the syntax/address right in 'fstab' to have it connect on startup. You need cifs-utils package installed.

Google AI suggests this fstab format to connect to a Windows share (to which you have access permission):
//server_ip_address/share_name /mnt/windows_share cifs credentials=/etc/samba/credentials,iocharset=utf8,sec=ntlm 0 0

If the share name contains spaces then escape them with \040
'/mnt/windows_share' is a pre-created folder for the mount point. I guess this needs user read-write access.
'/etc/samba/credentials/' is a text file containing.

    username=your_username
    password=your_password

The access rights can be restricted to '600'.

Not sure if any characters need escaping (I noticed \ in the password above) so it may be worth trying with a simple password first.

As a temp workround you can bookmark the connection in Files for slightly easier connection.

[MarcDriver]

I have added the line recommended in my Fstab and added the file credentials

I have checked :
marc@ROG-N-JO-NUX:/$ sudo mount -av [sudo] Mot de passe de marc : /boot/efi  : déjà monté /  : ignoré mntnone  : ignoré mount: /mnt/Documents: bad option; for several filesystems (e.g. nfs, cifs) you might need a /sbin/mount.<type> helper program. dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call. mount: (hint) your fstab has been modified, but systemd still uses the old version; use 'systemctl daemon-reload' to reload.

What does it mean ?

[jeremypw]

You'll need to reboot for changes to fstab to take effect. Could you post the relevant fstab line (with sensitive info redacted) you used? Have you installed cifs-utils? If you connect using "Connect Server", what is the address shown in the pathbar?

[MarcDriver]

Hi !
The line in fstab is
/192.168.1.11/Documents /mnt/Documents cifs credentials=/etc/samba/credentials,iocharset=utf8,sec=ntlm 0 0

I have re-started my computer after having put this line in fstab.
This had no effect at all, neither freeze the system / give an error message or mounting something automatically !

I have installed cifs-utils
The path is smb://192.168.1.11/documents

[MarcDriver]

Ihave tried WebDAV.
For that I have used ports 5005 forHTTP et 5006 forHTTPS and activated WebDAV on my NAS Synology and the port forwarding on my internet provider box.
Then I have used "Connect to a server" on the Files explorer and I have obtained the following error :

[jeremypw]

You do not need the dav:// in the server field - just the ip address or name of the server. That may be causing the error. Files should automatically use the appropriate protocol when constructing the URL (for secure WebDav the protocol is davs://)

[MarcDriver]

New test

[MarcDriver]

J'ai vu entre temps qu'il fallait installer ce package : sudo apt install davfs2
Je l'ai fait , cependant cela ne fait rien de plus !

[MarcDriver]

Oups, j'avais oublié de sauvegarder la configuration sur mon NAS !!!!!

Maintenant il ne reste plus qu'à automatiser le montage...

[MarcDriver]

Bonjour,

J’ai toujours un problème.

J’ai suivi la procédure suivante :

Monter automatiquement un disque NAS via WebDAV sur elementary OS
Pour monter automatiquement un disque NAS via WebDAV sur elementary OS, vous pouvez suivre ces étapes :
1. Installer les paquets nécessaires : Ouvrez un terminal et exécutez la commande suivante pour installer le paquet davfs2, qui permet de monter des systèmes de fichiers WebDAV :
sudo apt-get install davfs2
2. Créer un point de montage : Créez un répertoire où vous souhaitez monter votre disque NAS. Par exemple :
sudo mkdir /media/mon_nas
3. Modifier le fichier fstab : Ouvrez le fichier /etc/fstab avec un éditeur de texte en mode superutilisateur :
sudo nano /etc/fstab
Ajoutez la ligne suivante à la fin du fichier, en remplaçant URL_DU_NAS, NOM_UTILISATEUR, et MOT_DE_PASSE par vos informations :
https://URL_DU_NAS /media/mon_nas davfs user,rw,noauto 0 0
4. Configurer les identifiants : Si votre NAS nécessite un nom d'utilisateur et un mot de passe, créez un fichier de configuration pour stocker ces informations :
sudo nano /etc/davfs2/secrets
Ajoutez la ligne suivante, en remplaçant URL_DU_NAS, NOM_UTILISATEUR, et MOT_DE_PASSE par vos informations :
https://URL_DU_NAS NOM_UTILISATEUR MOT_DE_PASSE
5. Modifier les permissions : Assurez-vous que le fichier de secrets a les bonnes permissions pour des raisons de sécurité :
sudo chmod 600 /etc/davfs2/secrets
6. Monter le disque : Pour monter le disque immédiatement sans redémarrer, exécutez la commande suivante :
sudo mount /media/mon_nas
7. Automatiser le montage au démarrage : Pour que le disque se monte automatiquement au démarrage, vous pouvez ajouter l'option auto dans le fichier /etc/fstab comme indiqué précédemment.
8. Redémarrer : Redémarrez votre ordinateur pour vérifier que le montage automatique fonctionne correctement.

Maintenant les deux NAS apparaissent mais si je clique dessus j’ai deux messages d’erreur :

• un quand j’essaye en tant qu’administrateur
  /sbin/mount,davfs:/etc/davfs2/secrets:56:malformed line
  

• un quand j’essaye en tant qu’utilisateur marc :
  user marc must be member of group davfs2
  

Pour ce dernier j’avais fait la commande
marc@ROGN-JOY:~$ sudo usermod -aG davfs2 $marc

Qu’est-ce qui ne fonctionne pas ?

[MarcDriver]

Pas d'idée ?

[jeremypw]

Sorry - been busy for the last couple of weeks. I'll try setting up a WebDav server and get back to you.

[MarcDriver]

Don't be sorry, I fully understand.
In my turn I apologize to have written in French (just made a copy of hat I have done from a french forum, that's easier for me but I could have translated it).
Thanks for your help.

[MarcDriver]

@jeremypw
Hello,
Have you had some time to think about my problem ?
Best regards

[jeremypw]

Sorry - I've been busy getting Code v8.0.0 released. I'll try and look at this this weekend.

[jeremypw]

I successfully automounted a network (internet) WebDAV server mostly following the instructions at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Davfs2 using the fstab method. It was a bit fiddly and I made a lot of mistakes before getting it right.

1. You need to install davfs using apt as it is not supplied oob on Elementary.
2. It is important to get the contents of the secrets file correct in ~/.davfs2/secrets if you are connecting by https.
3. You also need to create a mount point in /media/<user> for the server.
4. Note that special characters need to be escaped in the secrets file

I used the public testing server at www.dlp-test.com for these experiments running OS8 in a VM.

I used the following lines in secrets and fstab:

https://www.dlp-test.com/webdav www.dlp-test.com\\WebDAV WebDAV (in ~/.davfs2/secrets)
https://www.dlp-test.com/webdav /media/jeremy/dlp-test davfs rw,user,uid=jeremy, _netdev 0 0 (in /etc/fstab)

Other conf and secret files were left as default (other than ensuring correct permissions/ownership).

Differences from the ArchWiki instructions were only the mount point (in /media/ not /mnt) and adding the _netdev option to the fstab line)

This is how Files showed the mount immediately after a reboot.

I could upload an image file onto this server and (after a reboot) the file-attributes like mime-type and thumbnail were readable (even color-tag which is a custom file attribute worked) so it seems like a useful protocol.

I suggest you try to set up the public test server like I did first and when that works try tweaking it to access your own server.

[MarcDriver]

Hello,
I just begin again to try this on a brand new system.
I have installed davfs2.

First problem : I cannot find ~/.davfs2/secrets

What to do ?

[jeremypw]

You have to create this file yourself - otherwise the settings in /etc/davfs2 are used. The ~/.davfs2/secrets carries any per-user configuration. (See /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf and the associated man page). ~/.davfs2/secrets is the default path but it can be changed in /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf if desired.

[MarcDriver]

What does mean : "Note that special characters need to be escaped in the secrets file" ?

[jeremypw]

Google AI OverView gave a reasonably accurate account:

Handling Special Characters
If a password or username in the ~/.davfs2/secrets or /etc/davfs2/secrets file contains special characters, they must be escaped using a backslash (\). 
Special characters include space, tab, #, \, and ".
To escape them:
Use \ for a space.
Use \# for #.
Use \\ for a backslash itself.
Use \" for a double quote.
Alternatively, values containing spaces, tabs, or # may be enclosed in double quotes ("), but \ and " must still be escaped within the quotes. 

[MarcDriver]

I tough that the password would be ok if we put password characters between '
For example : password is 43i8\hR#C#, it should be written '43i8\hR#C#'
If I well understand I should write it 43i8\hR#C# ?

[MarcDriver]

Is it the same for %, $,& ?

[jeremypw]

Your images appear not to show Files. If another system/filemanager has issues connecting then it suggests a fault in the configuration. I just noticed you may have copied uid=jeremy from my example file? You need to substitute jeremy with your own account name.

[MarcDriver]

I just noticed you may have copied uid=jeremy from my example file?
For the public test server, yes but for my NAS, i have replaced by my user name which is "mytadmin".
My fstab is :

\# /etc/fstab: static file system information. \# UUID=770b4ed9-0c9b-49cf-8a53-d72e0736ecb9 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 \# /boot/efi was on /dev/sda2 during installation UUID=02D8-D406 /boot/efi vfat umask=0077 0 1 \# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation UUID=fe2a079f-9113-4c21-990f-a373d0eae810 none swap sw 0 0 https://marcdriver.synology.me:5001 /media/syno1 davfs rw,user,uid=mytadmin,_netdev 0 0 \# https://www.dlp-test.com/webdav /media/jeremy/dlp-test davfs rw,user,uid=jeremy, _netdev 0 ### 0

My "secrets" is :

`# davfs2 secrets file 2009-10-18
# version 4
# -------------------------------

# Credential Line
# ---------------

https://marcdriver.synology.me:5001 mytadmin &PN$z43i8\hR#C#DzkGkgR?yFpTx7mC9RehC#cDp
# https://www.dlp-test.com/webdav www.dlp-test.com\\WebDAV WebDAV`

The password has been modified :-)

[jeremypw]

Is mytadmin the username on the local system or on the server? Or both?

[MarcDriver]

"mytadmin" is only the username of my NAS #1 called "syno1" (se screenshot above).
The username of my OS is "marc".

[jeremypw]

I think you should use uid=marc in that case. Or you could try leaving it out altogether.

[MarcDriver]

I think you should use uid=marc in that case.
It does not work better.

Or you could try leaving it out altogether.
It seems it is better but clicking on "syno1" I have the following message 👍

I have added the user "marc" in the davfs2 group. Then I obtained that :

The owner was "marc" (I changed it from "roor" to "marc" for edition matters) then I changed back to "root".
I obtain :

I gave all permissions "read - write", bur I obtain the same message.

Now, I do not know what to do !

[MarcDriver]

Other than that I can only suggest you start by being able to login from the command line, then from the Files "Connect to Server dialog" and then set up auto-login. I am not sure now what stage you are at.

How can I proceed ?

[jeremypw]

I've pretty much exhausted my suggestions. You could try systemd mounting instead of fstab but I do not know about that. You may be able to get better info on a more specific forum e.g. https://forum.manjaro.org/t/davfs-mounted-with-wrong-options/72214

[jeremypw]

You could try temporarily changing to a simple password using only alphanumerics just in case one of those other characters causing trouble.

[MarcDriver]

You could try temporarily changing to a simple password using only alphanumerics just in case one of those other characters causing trouble.

I have changed the password leaving special characters. NO Change.

Otherwise here are the result of my tests.

If I write
Owner – Group – Others : result
I obtain the following for « secrets » :
marc (rw) – marc (rw) – others (---) : wrong owner
root (rw) – marc (rw) – others (---) : wrong permissions
root (rw) – marc (--) – others (---) : wrong permissions
marc (rw) – marc (--) – others (---) : wrong permissions

I am a little bit disapointed.

[MarcDriver]

I've pretty much exhausted my suggestions. You could try systemd mounting instead of fstab but I do not know about that. You may be able to get better info on a more specific forum e.g. https://forum.manjaro.org/t/davfs-mounted-with-wrong-options/72214

I am not as skilled enough to extract the way of doing a mount via systemd provided that I have to manage with password.
The problem I encounter is the matter of permissions of the secrets file.
What influences what ?

Who must be the owner ? If the permissions for "root" and "marc" are not valid ?

[MarcDriver]

@jeremypw
I made another test :
root (rw-) – davfs2 (---) – others (---) : secrets:55 malformed line
I checked the line 55 and making comparison with the various examples, It seemed that I must put the password between brackets.
Result :
Alert : Synology do not accept the WEBDAV ; But it was configured for that!
I checked the configuration.
I changed the port number 5001 by 5006 which is the port choosen for WEBDAV on SYNO1 in secrets et fstab files.

And now it works :-)
Thanks to you Jeremy

[jeremypw]

Congratulations on figuring it out!