This section explains how to mount NTFS disks in FreeBSD.
NTFS (New Technology File System) is a proprietary journaling file system developed by Microsoft®. It has been the default file system in Microsoft Windows® for many years. FreeBSD can mount NTFS volumes using a FUSE file system. These file systems are implemented as user space programs which interact with the fusefs(5) kernel module via a well defined interface.
Procedure: Steps to Mount a NTFS Disk
Before using a FUSE file system we need to load the fusefs(5) kernel module:
# kldload fusefs
Use sysrc(8) to load the module at startup:
# sysrc kld_list+=fusefs
Install the actual NTFS file system from packages as in the example (see Using pkg for Binary Package Management) or from ports (see Using the Ports Collection):
# pkg install fusefs-ntfs
Last we need to create a directory where the file system will be mounted:
# mkdir /mnt/usb
Suppose a USB disk is plugged in. The disk partition information can be viewed with gpart(8):
# gpart show da0 => 63 1953525105 da0 MBR (932G) 63 1953525105 1 ntfs (932G)
We can mount the disk using the following command:
# ntfs-3g /dev/da0s1 /mnt/usb/
The disk is now ready to use.
Additionally, an entry can be added to /etc/fstab:
/dev/da0s1 /mnt/usb ntfs mountprog=/usr/local/bin/ntfs-3g,noauto,rw 0 0
Now the disk can be now mounted with:
# mount /mnt/usb
The disk can be unmounted with:
# umount /mnt/usb/
