systemd-mounter

A shortcut bash script for easy management of systemd mount services. Handles creation, mounting and removal of unused mounts in one simple .yaml file.

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When or Why Use This Approach Instead of fstab?

Feature	Systemd Mount Units (YAML Script)	fstab
Reliability on boot	✅ Retries automatically	❌ Can fail & cause boot issues
Handles network dependencies	✅ Yes, with After=network-online.target	❌ No built-in handling
Easier management (add/remove mounts)	✅ Edit YAML & rerun script	❌ Manually edit /etc/fstab and reload daemons
Automated cleanup of old mounts	✅ Yes	❌ No, must manually unmount and remove
Security (storing credentials separately)	✅ Yes, supports .creds file	⚠️ Possible, but needs manual setup
Order dependencies (mounts before services like Docker)	✅ Yes, using Before=	❌ No built-in way
Parallel execution (faster boot)	✅ Yes	❌ No, mounts sequentially
Better debugging & logging	✅ Yes, via systemctl status & journalctl	❌ No built-in logs

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Script takes input from file mounts.yaml in nice, clearly readable form of... you guessed it... YAML, and makes systemd service for each mount.

Example for NFS mount

mounts:
  - name: movies
    what: "synology-nas.network.local:/volume1/media"
    where: "/synology/media"
    type: "nfs"
    options: "rw,async,nfsvers=3,noatime,rsize=2097152,wsize=2097152,nolock,soft"
    before_docker: true

Example for CIFS mount with secured credentials:

mounts:
  - name: downloads
    what: "//synology-nas.network.local/downloads"
    where: "/synology/downloads"
    type: "cifs"
    options: "credentials=/path-to/synology-nas.creds,iocharset=utf8,rw,vers=3.0,nofail,soft"
    before_docker: true

synology-nas.creds: ( used only for CIFS )

username=youruser
password=yourpassword

Also, you should secure your .creds file so no other user can read them:

sudo chmod 600 /path-to/synology-nas.creds

Explanation of options:

name: just a name of service or mount

what: remote mount, for example synology NAS with NFS

where: local mountpoint

type: NFS or CIFS ( can be whatever your system supports )

Explanation of Options: ( you can find all options in documentation or just google it)

• rw → Read & Write access
• async → Asynchronous writes (better performance, but might risk data loss on power failure - i have UPS, so it's mostly fine)
• nfsvers=3 → Use NFSv3 (my synology supports only NFSv3)
• noatime → Disables updating access times (reduces disk writes, improves performance)
• rsize=2097152,wsize=2097152 → The default NFS buffer size is often 1 MB (1048576 bytes), which works well for most scenarios, but on a 2.5 Gbit network, you can benefit from larger buffer sizes like 2 MB or even 4 MB.
• nolock → Disables file locking (useful for media files, avoids issues with Docker)
• soft → Fails quickly if the NAS is unreachable (prevents system hangs)

before_docker: I designed this with intention to mount all needed mountpoints BEFORE docker.service starts ( my media stack ), so i added this for systemd to do this before it goes to start docker.service

DISCLAIMER: these options may not work for everyone, so read documentation or do your own testing of what options are best for your usecase.

I created this script to help me faster organize and create mounts on my systems, i create and delete lot of VMs that i test new stuff on. I was tired of recreating mountpoints, deleting them, setting new ones, etc. So i created this helper, it is simple but it works for me :) I hope it helps you a bit ;)

For those who want addition to my docker setup with this script:

If you want your docker.service, on any other service WAIT for mounts to be ready before starting ( for example media servers etc.)

You just edit your desired service:

sudo systemctl edit docker

And add wanted services and mountpoints, so the service WAITS for these services to start or mountpoints to be ready.

[Unit]
RequiresMountsFor=/synology/media/filmy /synology/media/serialy /synology/downloads /synology/fotky
After=synology-media-filmy.mount synology-media-serialy.mount synology-downloads.mount synology-fotky.mount

BUT be carefull. If you set up "wait for some service" and the service does not start, or mountpoint is not avalible ( for example you deleted the folder on your NAS ), your docker ( in this case ) won't start at all...

Potential Solutions for Failover:

If you want to avoid Docker being blocked indefinitely, you can add a timeout to your docker.service:

[Unit]
TimeoutSec=60

This will allow the mount to be ready for 60 seconds before timing out. If the mount isn't available in that time frame, Docker will proceed.