Automatically Mounting USB SSDs on Raspberry Pi at startup

Automatically mounting a USB SSD on a Raspberry Pi ensures seamless access to external storage without manual intervention. In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of identifying the USB SSD, creating a systemd service for automatic mounting, and troubleshooting potential issues.

Step 1: Identify the USB SSD

First, connect your USB SSD to the Raspberry Pi and identify its UUID (Universally Unique Identifier). Open a terminal and use the following command:

sudo blkid

This command lists all block devices and their UUIDs. Note down the UUID of your USB SSD.

Step 2: Create a Systemd Service

We’ll create a systemd service that mounts the USB SSD automatically at boot.

1. Open a terminal and create a new systemd service unit file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/mount-usb.service

2. Add the following lines to the file:

[Unit]
Description=Mount USB SSD
Requires=local-fs.target
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/bin/mount /dev/disk/by-uuid/YOUR_UUID_HERE /mnt/usb

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Replace /dev/disk/by-uuid/YOUR_UUID_HERE with the UUID of your USB SSD.

Step 3: Enable the Systemd Service

Enable the systemd service so that it starts automatically at boot:

sudo systemctl enable mount-usb.service

Step 4: Reboot

Reboot the Raspberry Pi for the changes to take effect:

sudo reboot

After the reboot, your USB SSD should be automatically mounted to /mnt/usb.

Troubleshooting

• Check UUID: Ensure that you’ve replaced YOUR_UUID_HERE with the actual UUID of your USB SSD.
• Check Mount Point: Verify that the mount point /mnt/usb exists and is accessible.
• Check Systemd Logs: If the service fails to start, check systemd logs for any errors:

sudo journalctl -xe

Following these steps, you can effortlessly configure your Raspberry Pi to automatically mount USB SSDs on boot, streamlining your storage management workflow.