Help to mount WDMyCloud from fstab

[AnneW]

I've been away from linux for some time, and I've never used kubuntu before, so much is forgotten and/or new. Lots of questions, then.

I store my work on a WDMyCloud, using drive mapping on Windows. I want a mounted drive in kubuntu to make things equally available.

I've been reading around old threads on the internet, but have hit some snags. First, I understand that I need to make some changes in /etc on the server, but the UI ensures that you can't reach /etc/ I can ping it on 192.168.178.xx. How can I get root access so that I can make the changes?

I'm trying to mount the drive on /annew/nas. I understand that the first thing I must check is that I have the same UID on the server as on the laptop. I've also read that I have to create a line in /etc/exports on the WDMyCloud, such as "/nfs/Public".

Recommendations for the fstab line seem to vary enormously. What is the simplest method for mounting these public shares?

What else do I need to be aware of?

All help gratefully received.

[oshunluvr]

I don't know anything about that product, but if you have a username and password to access it, have you tried mounting it?

This will show you SAMBA exports (Windows type):

smbclient -L 192.168.178.xx

If it is running an NFS server, this should show you available NFS mounts:

sudo showmount -e 192.168.178.xx

Finally, ssh might be available:

ssh 192.168.178.xx

or

ssh username@192.168.178.xx

[AnneW]

I've tried several variations on fstab entries, without success. The WDMyCloud definitely is running linux, so I'm looking for a linus to linux display.

[AnneW]

I don't know anything about that product, but if you have a username and password to access it, have you tried mounting it?

If it is running an NFS server, this should show you available NFS mounts:

sudo showmount -e 192.168.178.xx

sudo: showmount: command not found

or

ssh username@192.168.178.xx

ssh: connect to host 192.168.178.xx port 22: Connection refused

Hmm - port closed - router firewall, I guess.

[AnneW]

I'm getting there, but not there yet. My current line says

192.168.178.xx:/nfs /home/annew/nfs user=admin defaults 0 0

but whether I try as annew or as admin, I get the same result.

dolphin > Network now shows WDMyCloud listed, but I can't enter it.

It seems to me that I have to find a way of passing the relevant password. Does that have to go in the fstab line?

[oshunluvr]

The fact that it's running Linux has little to do with it. What's more important is what network filesystem it's running. It's not a "linux to linux" connection, it's an NFS or SAMBA connection.

If "showmount" is not found, you don't have NFS installed on your Kubuntu machine, start there. SSH may not be configured or it's using a non-standard port, which is a fairly common security measure. Didn't this thing come with any documentation?

[oshunluvr]

NFS doesn't use passwords the way that SAMBA does. Either you have permission to mount it or you don't. Every entry in fstab has root user access.

I've never heard of a user called "admin" - we're not using Windows. Try post actual error output instead of just saying you got some.

NFS shares must be exported from the server to the clients. Unless you get a result from showmount, there are no shares to mount.

[AnneW]

NFS doesn't use passwords the way that SAMBA does. Either you have permission to mount it or you don't. Every entry in fstab has root user access.

I've never heard of a user called "admin" - we're not using Windows.

The device has a linux file system. The truth is, I can't recall how I ever managed to list a directory to know that. Despite that, it is deliberately set up to be as user-proof as possible. The UI is a web interface - chrooted? I think that's what it is. Anyway, there is no way I can see to get above the shares directory.

Try post actual error output instead of just saying you got some.

NFS shares must be exported from the server to the clients. Unless you get a result from showmount, there are no shares to mount.

Whenever I could I pasted cli messages here. If I can't find a way to access deeper, no export is possible. I don't believe that it's impossible to access the shares from Linux. Under Public there are four shares listed, the main one used by me having a long tree of files.

The question of whether nfs is installed - I have network tools installed - doesn't that include nfs? If not, which package includes it?

Documentation? Yes a manual, which is devoted entirely to its use from the web interface. However, I've now found a link from community.wd.com which looks hopeful. If it turns out to be fruitful I'll report back. It seems the writer of the article is using samba on CentOS.

[oshunluvr]

nfs-common is the package that provides nfs functionality.

I don't want to sidebar much on this but "The device has a linux file system. " is totally irrelevant. The file system native to the device has no bearing on any system connecting via a network connection. You connect to a Network File System like SAMBA or NFS ("N" "F" "S" as in "N"etwork "F"ile "S"ystem), not directly to the drive. The host operating system does that. You can connect to a NAS, a file server, a Windows PC, a MAC PC, a Linux PC, a router with file storage, whatever, with any network file system the device supports. The file system the host is using has no bearing and is not exposed to the network that way. Some file systems, like NTFS are not POSIX compliant so don't support all Unix/Linux file system features, but this comes into play after you're connected to the host computer via the networked file system, not before. The only relevance to the device running linux is it may support NFS, which is why I suggested it, or SAMBA or both. A Window device would not usually support NFS.

As far as posting error messages, this "but whether I try as annew or as admin, I get the same result." is a description of results, not actual results. I simply suggested posing of actual error messages because they may reveal a problem or solution you're unaware of.

Usually, these type of devices have some sort of web-based interface that allows access and settings changes. Assuming SAMBA is required, you will likely need a SAMBA username and password from the device to access it's files that way. Dolphin is known to be finicky with SAMBA, I suppose because it's a Windows protocol. If NFS is available and enabled on your device, you should be able to find its settings. Generally, NFS access restrictions are network based not password based. You restrict access though restricting IP ranges, etc.

Install nfs-common and try the showmount command again.

[AnneW]

As a first step, I installed samba and smb4k. Moving through the pages on smb4k I started filling out the entries, only to be told that my entries were invalid. By the time I had finished reading that message, Dolphin popped up, with the Network section showing all the shares on the device, including the directory of tellico files I want to use at the moment. It remains to find a way to get this into fstab. (I'll ignore the smb4k page problem, for now. Time enough to learn what's needed there, later)

Working from the example in the post, I have
/// cifs username=anne passwd=mypassword uid=1000 gid=1000 0 0

all looks well until that final "0 0" which is red. Once more

sudo mount -a
mount: /etc/fstab: parse error at line 13 -- ignored

It's a little frustrating to be so near yet still failing.

[oshunluvr]

SAMBA is a pain in the neck- just my opinion. If you're working in fstab, your line looks malformatted.

//servername/sharename /mountpoint cifs username=anne,passwd=password,uid=1000 0 0

Note commas between the options.

If you're working with Dolphin, an fstab entry isn't needed.

[Snowhog]

Yup, an fstab entry contains only six elements:

The syntax of a fstab entry is :

[Device] [Mount Point] [File System Type] [Options] [Dump] [Pass]

fields	description
<device>	The device/partition (by /dev location or UUID) that contain a file system.
<mount point>	The directory on your root file system (aka mount point) from which it will be possible to access the content of the device/partition (note: swap has no mount point). Mount points should not have spaces in the names.
<file system type>	Type of file system (see LinuxFilesystemsExplained).
<options>	Mount options of access to the device/partition (see the man page for mount).
<dump>	Enable or disable backing up of the device/partition (the command dump). This field is usually set to 0, which disables it.
<pass num>	Controls the order in which fsck checks the device/partition for errors at boot time. The root device should be 1. Other partitions should be 2, or 0 to disable checking.

[jpenguin]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MountWindowsSharesPermanently

[ianp5a]

As a first step, I installed samba and smb4k. Moving through the pages on smb4k I started filling out the entries, only to be told that my entries were invalid..

If you are using the application Smb4K, you can go to Network search and enter a '/' .
It should then list everything accessible on the LAN. When the list is complete, select the desired item and go Mount.
This will mount it. But this seems to need smb4k running to keep it mounted.