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Commands Reference, Volume 5

umount or unmount Command

Purpose

Unmounts a previously mounted file system, directory, or file.

Syntax

unmount | umount } [ -f ] [ -a ] | [ all allr Device Directory File FileSystem -n Node | -t Type ]

Description

Another name for the umount command is the unmount command. Either name can be used. You can use the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) to run this command. To use SMIT, enter:

smit umount

The umount command unmounts a previously mounted device, directory, file, or file system. Processing on the file system, directory, or file completes and it is unmounted. Members of the system group and users operating with root user authority can issue any umount command. Only users with root authority or are members of the system group can unmount a directory or file.

Note: SMIT will not unmount the /usr/lpp/info/$LANG directory, the directory on which SMIT helps are located. Typically, this is the CD-ROM.

To unmount local mounts you can specify the device, directory, file, or file system on which it is mounted.

Flags

-a Unmounts all mounted file systems.
all Unmounts all mounted file systems.
allr Unmounts all remotely mounted file systems.
Note: For remote mounts, specify the device, directory, file, or file system parameters. If you specify the allr flag, the umount command unmounts all remote mounts.
-f Forces an unmount in a remote environment. Use to free a client when the server is down and server path names cannot be resolved. The -f flag is not supported for journaled file systems.
Note: This forced unmount works only when there is no hold on the directory, that is, when the directory is not some user's working directory and there is no process started and still running there.
-n Node Specifies the node holding the mounted directory you want to unmount. The umount -n Node command unmounts all remote mounts made from the Node parameter.
-t Type Unmounts all stanzas in the /etc/filesystems file that contain the type=Type flag and are mounted. The Type parameter is a string value, such as the remote value that specifies the name of the group.
Note: You cannot use the umount command on a device in use. A device is in use if any file is open for any reason or if a user's current directory is on that device.

Examples

  1. To unmount all mounts from remote node Node A, enter:
    umount -n nodeA
  2. To unmount files and directories of a specific type, enter:
    umount -t test
    This unmounts all files or directories that have a stanza in the /etc/filesystems file that contains the type=test attribute.

Files

/etc/filesystems Lists the known file systems and defines their characteristics.

Related Information

The mount command, fuser command.

The mount subroutine, umount subroutine, vmount subroutine, uvmount subroutine, mntctl subroutine.

The System Management Interface Tool (SMIT): Overview in AIX Version 4.3 System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices explains the structure, main menus, and tasks that are done with SMIT.

The Mounting Overview in AIX Version 4.3 System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices explains mounting files and directories, mount points, and automatic mounts.


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