Package: mount Version: 2.25.2-6 Severity: wishlist Tags: d-i
Hello! I have a kindof-weird request, related to systemd and the documentation around /etc/fstab. I'd like to request that the stock /etc/fstab file include a note to run `systemctl daemon-reload` if you make changes to the file, but do not reboot afterwards. As has been mentioned in https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/7291 (among other places), when systemd is started during system boot—and when the daemon is reloaded with `systemctl daemon-reload`—generators (including, but not limited to, systemd-fstab-generator(8)) read /etc/fstab and generate unit files appropriately. If the sysadmin modifies /etc/fstab, but does not reboot, things may not work as expected. systemd-fstab-generator(8) makes an reference to systemd.swap(5), but our group has also experienced weirdnesses with NFS mounts, particularly when we're using NFSv4 and the krb5 security types, which require various rpc services be started before the mount can take place. Since people (including, most of the time, me!) forget about the link between system and /etc/fstab, I would like to request that a short note be placed in various places related to the fstab file, saying that, if the system isn't going to be rebooted, asking that at least `systemctl daemon-reload` after making any changes. I can think of three places in Debian where it would be worth mentioning this: • The /etc/fstab file generated during installation (that's why I added the `d-i` tag). • The fstab(5) man page. • The examples in the /usr/share/doc/mount/examples directory. I did some searching around outside of Debian, and I found that RHEL made a similar change, except they modified their administrator guides. The change was made earlier this year, in https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1566088 If you have any questions about my request, please don't hesitate to reach out! -- ~ A. Karl Kornel Stanford Research Computing Center University IT, Stanford University
