The /etc/fstab file is used by some programs to determine where partitions are to be mounted by default, which file systems must be checked and in which order. Create a new file systems table like this: cat > /etc/fstab << "EOF" # Begin /etc/fstab # filesystem mount-point fs-type options dump fsck-order /dev/xxx / fff defaults 1 1 /dev/yyy swap swap pri=1 0 0 proc /proc proc defaults 0 0 shm /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0 # End /etc/fstab EOF Of course, replace xxx, yyy and fff with the values appropriate for your system -- for example hda2, hda5 and reiserfs. For all the details on the six fields in this table, see man 5 fstab. When using a reiserfs partition, the 1 1 at the end of the line should be replaced with 0 0, as such a partition does not need to be dumped or checked The /dev/shm mount point for tmpfs is included to comply with Posix shared memory requirements. For more information on this, see Documentation/filesystems/tmpfs.txt in the kernel source tree. There are other lines which you may consider adding to your fstab file. One example is the line which you must have if you are using devpts: devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=4,mode=620 0 0 Another example is a line to use if you intend to use USB devices: usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs defaults 0 0 Both of these options will of course only work if you have the relevant support compiled into your kernel.