SMB automount using systemd

axelquack · March 26, 2025, 1:18pm

Hi - I saw there were repeating questions on how to mount external drives over SMB.

I documented in detail what I did under Bazzite and a bottleneck I had with SELinux. Happy to get feedback on what I could have differently, better, or easier.

Bazzite SMB automount

Make sure that you replace whatever is in “<>” with your own data.

Setup authentication configuration file

Generate a file that defines the login data to mount the volume. The file will be called credentials located at /var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials. Make sure you first generate the folder mkdir /var/home/<username>/.smb.

username=<username>
password=<password>

Ensure the credentials file is readable only by the owner: chmod u=rw,go= /var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials
Create a mount folder on your local machine: mkdir /var/home/<username>/retrodeck
Create a file called var-home-<username>-retrodeck.mount located at /etc/systemd/system. sudo touch /etc/systemd/system/var-home-<username>-retrodeck.mount.

Create mount unit

[Unit]
Description=Mount SMB Retrodeck Share
# A human-readable description of this mount unit.

# Ensures the network is available before trying to mount.
Requires=network-online.target
# This unit will only start if 'network-online.target' is available.
After=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service
# Waits until network and DNS resolution are ready.
Wants=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service
# Suggests that these services should be running, but does not fail if they aren't.

[Mount]
# Defines what to mount and where.

# The network share (SMB/CIFS) that will be mounted.
What=//<yourRemoteServerIP>/<yourRemoteFolder>
# Replace with actual IP and share name, e.g., //192.168.1.100/retrodeck.

# Local mount point where the share will be attached.
Where=/var/home/<username>/retrodeck
# Replace <username> and <retrodeck> with actual values. Make sure that it matches with the folder you create as mount folder.

# Specifies the filesystem type.
Type=cifs
# This is necessary for mounting a Windows SMB/CIFS share.

# Mount options:
Options=rw,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail,credentials=/var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials,vers=3.0
# `rw`          → Read/write access.
# `uid=1000`    → Ensures that the mounted files are owned by user ID 1000 (your main user).
# `gid=1000`    → Ensures group ownership by group ID 1000.
# `nofail`      → Prevents boot failure if the SMB share is unavailable.
# `credentials=/var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials` → Specifies the file storing the SMB username & password.
# `vers=3.0`    → Forces SMB version 3.0 for security and performance.

# Sets a timeout to stop trying if the mount hangs.
TimeoutSec=30
# If the mount attempt takes longer than 30 seconds, it will give up.

[Install]
# Ensures this mount is activated at boot.
WantedBy=multi-user.target
# Mounts the share when the system reaches multi-user mode (normal operation).

Set mount unit file permissions

Make sure you have set the correct permissions and ownership for systemd mount files.
Correct Owner and Group: sudo chown root:root /etc/systemd/system/var-home-<username>-retrodeck.mount
Correct File Permissions: sudo chmod u=rw,g=r,o=r /etc/systemd/system/var-home-<username>-retrodeck.mount (u=rw → User (root) gets read & write; g=r → Group (root) gets read-only.; o=r → Others get read-only)

Fixing SELinux Denial (under Bazzite)

By default Systemd is being denied access to the mount unit file due to SELinux policies.

Check Current SELinux Mode

Run:

getenforce

If it returns Enforcing, SELinux is actively blocking access.
If it returns Permissive, it logs issues but doesn’t enforce them.

Relabel the Mount Unit File

Since the file is in /etc/systemd/system/, it should have the correct SELinux label. To fix it:

sudo restorecon -v /etc/systemd/system/var-home-<username>-retrodeck.mount

Now reload Systemd, enable Auto-Start, and start the SMB mount immediately

Reload Systemd to recognize New or modified units: sudo systemctl daemon-reload
- Forces systemd to reload all unit files (services, mounts, timers, etc.).
- Necessary when adding, modifying, or deleting .mount files, since systemd does not automatically detect changes.
- Without this, systemd might not recognize new or modified units, leading to errors when enabling or starting them.
Enable the mount to Auto-Start at boot: sudo systemctl enable var-home-<username>-retrodeck.mount
- Creates a symbolic link in /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/ pointing to your mount file.
- Ensures that systemd automatically mounts the SMB share every time the system boots.
- This does not immediately mount it—it just sets it up for future boots.
Start (mount) the SMB share immediately: sudo systemctl start var-home-<username>-retrodeck.mount
- Manually triggers the mounting of the SMB share right now, without waiting for a reboot.
- If successful, the mount point (/var/home/<username>/retrodeck) should now show the contents of the SMB share.
- If there are errors (e.g., wrong credentials, network issues), it will fail, but logs can be checked using journalctl -xe.

das_ICH · March 5, 2026, 10:16am

Thank you for this very detailed description. For me only one question is left and Iḿ not sure how to deal with it. I have set SELinux to “Permissve” as default now, is it supposed to stay this way and will it break automounting my NAS folder if I reset it to “Enforcing” ? Tyvm

Xen4n · March 14, 2026, 1:04pm

Thanks for the guide.
I mounted all my SMB folders into /var/mnt/nas and it works perfect.
Note: if your SMB folder contains a space symbol, just enter it into Where: (inside .mount file) without any restrictions (I used nano for editing)

1LoranSea · March 19, 2026, 5:57pm

Thank you for your step by step guide. It looked easy to follow but I failed to mount my NAS SMB share…After bazzite going to sleep, it was impossible to login. Hard drive kept on turning and authentification failed. I had to reboot on Win11 .

What user name and password should I use? I assumed it was my NAS’s…

SarreqTeryx · June 21, 2026, 1:07am

I followed this exactly, but I keep getting:

var-home-sarreq-tha-dump.mount - Mount SMB tha-dump Share 
     Loaded: bad-setting (Reason: Unit var-home-sarreq-tha-dump.mount has a bad unit file setting.) 
     Active: inactive (dead) 
      Where: /var/home/sarreq/Tha-Dump 
       What: //THE-DUMP/Tha-Dump/

Jun 20 20:44:55 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: var-home-sarreq-tha-dump.mount: Where= setting doesn't match unit name. Refusing.

firstly, what constitutes the Unit name? is it the .mount file’s filename? what am I missing?

my .mount file:

[Unit]
Description=Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share
# A human-readable description of this mount unit.

# Ensures the network is available before trying to mount.
Requires=network-online.target
# This unit will only start if 'network-online.target' is available.
After=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service
# Waits until network and DNS resolution are ready.
Wants=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service
# Suggests that these services should be running, but does not fail if they aren't.

[Mount]
# Defines what to mount and where.

# The network share (SMB/CIFS) that will be mounted.
What=//THE-DUMP/Tha-Dump/
# Replace with actual IP and share name, e.g., //192.168.1.100/retrodeck.

############ I tried using the IP address, and still get the same problem

# Local mount point where the share will be attached.
Where=/var/home/sarreq/Tha-Dump/
# Replace <username> and <retrodeck> with actual values. Make sure that it matches with the folder you create as mount folder.

# Specifies the filesystem type.
Type=cifs
# This is necessary for mounting a Windows SMB/CIFS share.

# Mount options:
Options=rw,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail,credentials=/var/home/sarreq/.smb/credentials,vers=3.0
# `rw`          → Read/write access.
# `uid=1000`    → Ensures that the mounted files are owned by user ID 1000 (your main user).
# `gid=1000`    → Ensures group ownership by group ID 1000.
# `nofail`      → Prevents boot failure if the SMB share is unavailable.
# `credentials=/var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials` → Specifies the file storing the SMB username & password.
# `vers=3.0`    → Forces SMB version 3.0 for security and performance.

# Sets a timeout to stop trying if the mount hangs.
TimeoutSec=30
# If the mount attempt takes longer than 30 seconds, it will give up.

[Install]
# Ensures this mount is activated at boot.
WantedBy=multi-user.target
# Mounts the share when the system reaches multi-user mode (normal operation).

bvitnik · June 21, 2026, 5:45pm

The answer is provided here:

systemd has strict unit file naming restrictions for mounts.

In short, rename your mount point /var/home/sarreq/Tha-Dump to something simpler and without a dash - like /var/home/sarreq/thadump. In that case, your unit file must be named var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount.

Alternatively, leave the mount point as is but rename your unit file to var-home-sarreq-Tha\x2dDump.mount… yeah, the dash pretty much screws everything up.

SarreqTeryx · June 23, 2026, 11:33pm

OK, that fixes the unit name error, but now I’m getting the error:

Can't start the unit var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount, because: Failed

I’ve already set SELinux to permissive.

the unitfile as it is now:

[Unit]
Description=Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share
# A human-readable description of this mount unit.

# Ensures the network is available before trying to mount.
Requires=network-online.target

# This unit will only start if 'network-online.target' is available.
After=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service

# Waits until network and DNS resolution are ready.
Wants=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service

# Suggests that these services should be running, but does not fail if they aren't.

[Mount]
# Defines what to mount and where.
# The network share (SMB/CIFS) that will be mounted.
What=//THE-DUMP/Tha-Dump/
# Replace with actual IP and share name, e.g., //192.168.1.100/retrodeck.

# Local mount point where the share will be attached.
Where=/var/home/sarreq/thadump/
# Replace <username> and <retrodeck> with actual values. Make sure that it matches with the folder you create as mount folder.

# Specifies the filesystem type.
Type=cifs
# This is necessary for mounting a Windows SMB/CIFS share.

# Mount options:
Options=rw,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail,credentials=/var/home/sarreq/.smb/credentials,vers=3.0
# `rw`          → Read/write access.
# `uid=1000`    → Ensures that the mounted files are owned by user ID 1000 (your main user).
# `gid=1000`    → Ensures group ownership by group ID 1000.
# `nofail`      → Prevents boot failure if the SMB share is unavailable.
# `credentials=/var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials` → Specifies the file storing the SMB username & password.
# `vers=3.0`    → Forces SMB version 3.0 for security and performance.

# Sets a timeout to stop trying if the mount hangs.
TimeoutSec=30
# If the mount attempt takes longer than 30 seconds, it will give up.

[Install]
# Ensures this mount is activated at boot.
WantedBy=multi-user.target
# Mounts the share when the system reaches multi-user mode (normal operation).

bvitnik · June 24, 2026, 6:45pm

And what does this command say?

sudo journalctl -u var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount

SarreqTeryx · June 29, 2026, 9:48am

sorry, got busy with other things.

this confuses me entirely.

Jun 23 18:56:15 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: Mounting var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount - Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share...
Jun 23 18:56:15 WastePaperBin mount[18335]: Mounting cifs URL not implemented yet. Attempt to mount smb://THE-DUMP/Tha-Dump/
Jun 23 18:56:15 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount: Mount process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jun 23 18:56:15 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jun 23 18:56:15 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: Failed to mount var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount - Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share.

and changing it to the IP gives this:

Jun 29 05:41:29 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: Mounting var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount - Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share...
Jun 29 05:41:34 WastePaperBin mount[1527]: mount error: could not resolve address for THE-DUMP: Unknown error
Jun 29 05:41:34 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount: Mount process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jun 29 05:41:34 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jun 29 05:41:34 WastePaperBin systemd[1]: Failed to mount var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount - Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share.

bvitnik · June 29, 2026, 12:10pm

Can you show both versions of your var-home-sarreq-thadump.mount unit file?

SarreqTeryx · June 30, 2026, 12:24am

Literally, the only difference is the IP address over the SMB URL

[Unit]
Description=Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share
# A human-readable description of this mount unit.

# Ensures the network is available before trying to mount.
Requires=network-online.target

# This unit will only start if 'network-online.target' is available.
After=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service

# Waits until network and DNS resolution are ready.
Wants=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service

# Suggests that these services should be running, but does not fail if they aren't.

[Mount]
# Defines what to mount and where.
# The network share (SMB/CIFS) that will be mounted.
What=//THE-DUMP/Tha-Dump/
# Replace with actual IP and share name, e.g., //192.168.1.100/retrodeck.

# Local mount point where the share will be attached.
Where=/var/home/sarreq/thadump/
# Replace <username> and <retrodeck> with actual values. Make sure that it matches with the folder you create as mount folder.

# Specifies the filesystem type.
Type=cifs
# This is necessary for mounting a Windows SMB/CIFS share.

# Mount options:
Options=rw,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail,credentials=/var/home/sarreq/.smb/credentials,vers=3.0
# `rw`          → Read/write access.
# `uid=1000`    → Ensures that the mounted files are owned by user ID 1000 (your main user).
# `gid=1000`    → Ensures group ownership by group ID 1000.
# `nofail`      → Prevents boot failure if the SMB share is unavailable.
# `credentials=/var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials` → Specifies the file storing the SMB username & password.
# `vers=3.0`    → Forces SMB version 3.0 for security and performance.

# Sets a timeout to stop trying if the mount hangs.
TimeoutSec=30
# If the mount attempt takes longer than 30 seconds, it will give up.

[Install]
# Ensures this mount is activated at boot.
WantedBy=multi-user.target
# Mounts the share when the system reaches multi-user mode (normal operation).

[Unit]
Description=Mount SMB Tha-Dump Share
# A human-readable description of this mount unit.

# Ensures the network is available before trying to mount.
Requires=network-online.target

# This unit will only start if 'network-online.target' is available.
After=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service

# Waits until network and DNS resolution are ready.
Wants=network-online.target systemd-resolved.service

# Suggests that these services should be running, but does not fail if they aren't.

[Mount]
# Defines what to mount and where.
# The network share (SMB/CIFS) that will be mounted.
What=//192.168.1.161/Tha-Dump/
# Replace with actual IP and share name, e.g., //192.168.1.100/retrodeck.

# Local mount point where the share will be attached.
Where=/var/home/sarreq/thadump/
# Replace <username> and <retrodeck> with actual values. Make sure that it matches with the folder you create as mount folder.

# Specifies the filesystem type.
Type=cifs
# This is necessary for mounting a Windows SMB/CIFS share.

# Mount options:
Options=rw,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail,credentials=/var/home/sarreq/.smb/credentials,vers=3.0
# `rw`          → Read/write access.
# `uid=1000`    → Ensures that the mounted files are owned by user ID 1000 (your main user).
# `gid=1000`    → Ensures group ownership by group ID 1000.
# `nofail`      → Prevents boot failure if the SMB share is unavailable.
# `credentials=/var/home/<username>/.smb/credentials` → Specifies the file storing the SMB username & password.
# `vers=3.0`    → Forces SMB version 3.0 for security and performance.

# Sets a timeout to stop trying if the mount hangs.
TimeoutSec=30
# If the mount attempt takes longer than 30 seconds, it will give up.

[Install]
# Ensures this mount is activated at boot.
WantedBy=multi-user.target
# Mounts the share when the system reaches multi-user mode (normal operation).

alternatively, is there a way to install SMB4K? I’ve never had a problem with that.

bvitnik · June 30, 2026, 12:47am

Are you doing:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

after each change in the mount unit file?

Both of your errors show things that are not found in the unit files so they seem as not being related at all.

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