Using the Mac OS X automounter
A quick tip on how to use the Mac OS X automount command to automatically mount a remote filesystem. You will need to be comfortable with the OS X command-line for this but once you know how it is fairly simple.
How to resize your bootcamp partition without deleting windows. Disk partitioning macOS Catalinahttps://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.htmlPl. A quick tip on how to use the Mac OS X automount command to automatically mount a remote filesystem. You will need to be comfortable with the OS X command-line for this but once you know how it is fairly simple. Last updated: Feb 5, 2020 Why automount may be useful I have a number of remote filesystems that are stored on Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices connected to my local network. Now that you have a fully functional blank Boot Camp install, boot your new MacOS up and open up your Disk Utility. Right click on your Boot Camp partition and select “Get Info”. We need to see the disk name. Be very careful to ensure you are 100% positive you have the correct disk, or else you may lose all your data on a different device.
Last updated: Feb 5, 2020
Why automount may be useful
I have a number of remote filesystems that are stored on Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices connected to my local network wireless router. For example, I use a share on a NAS device to host all of my media for use with the Plex Media Center. Anytime I run Plex on a computer I need to mount that share in order to be able to play the media. Likewise I have a number of cron scripts that run nightly to sync local filesystems on my Mac with a share on the NAS device.
(As an aside I should mention that remote syncing is not intended as a replacement for backups or a version control repository for your Xcode projects).
Now it would be a pain if I had to manually mount those remote filesystem shares everytime I wanted to run Plex or some other application or script. One possible option is to have them permanently mounted by adding them as login items to my OS X account (mount the share and then drag the disk icon from your desktop into the Login Items tab of your account settings in the System Preferences application). However these are filesystems that I do not generally want to see on the desktop and which sometimes are not even reachable.
A better approach in this case is to use the automount service that is part of Mac OS X. A few very simple configuration steps will allow the automount service to automatically manage access to a remote filesystem mounting it only when it is accessed and unmounting it later when it is no longer being used.
Create a local mount point
To get started you need to create a local directory that will be managed by the automount service. All remote filesystems will appear under this directory which acts as a trigger to the automount service. I keep these remote filesystems under the directory /mnt/Resources. The Resources directory is created and managed by the automount service but you will need to create the /mnt directory if it does not exist. You will need to use sudo to create the directory.
Note that starting with Catalina the root file system is now read-only. I have moved the mount point to the user writable filesystem /System/Volumes/Data:
Modify the master map
The automount process reads the file /etc/auto_master to retrieve a list of directories that it should control. I’ve placed my resource maps in a separate map file (/etc/auto_resources). The one line modification to add /System/Volumes/Data/mnt/Resources to the auto_master file is as follows:
So any time an attempt is made to access a directory under /System/Volumes/Data/mnt/Resources the automount process will check the auto_resources map file to determine if it needs to mount a remote filesystem.
Creating the resources map
Let’s assume we have a remote filesystem /media on a NAS device named nas001. Also we will assume the filesystem is formatted as a Microsoft Windows (SMB) filesystem as it is also accessed by Windows devices (true in my case). To automatically mount that filesystem anytime we attempt to access it under /System/Volumes/Data/mnt/Resources/media we need to add a map to the /etc/auto_resources file as follows:
Notes:
- This assumes that anonymous access to the filesystem is allowed otherwise you need to include a username and password (e.g.
://username:password@nas001/media). - The hostname of the remote device must be in the local
/etc/hostsfile or otherwise defined by DNS. On my local systems I simply include it in the/etc/hostsfile. - You can add other remote filesystems to the same map file and they will also be mounted under
/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/Resources. Add each new filesystem map on a separate line.
Activate the changes
Any time you modify the map files you need to inform the automount service in order for them to become active:
Optional configuration changes
A number of options can be changed in the /etc/autofs.conf configuration file. The only option that you are likely to ever want to change is the timeout period. This is time that the automount service will wait before unmounting a filesystem that has not been accessed. This is set to 1 hour (3600 seconds) in the /etc/autofs.conf that ships with OS X:
Finder integration
It should be noted that filesystems that are automounted in this way will not show up automatically in the sidebar of the OS X Finder application. Nor will they automatically appear as disk icons on the desktop. If that is important you may want to simply add the share as a login item and have it mounted whenever you login.
For filesystems that are accessed by scripts or applications I prefer having them automatically mounted and unmounted in the background on demand. You can of course always go to the directory in the Finder using the Go > Go To Folder… command and entering /mnt/Resources.
Boot Camp Assistant User Guide
You can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10 on your Intel-based Mac.
Newer Mac computers use a streamlined method to install Windows on your Mac. To find out whether your Mac uses this method, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is an older model that requires an external USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your older Mac using Boot Camp instead.
What you need
The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.
A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.
You can download a Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File) from Microsoft.
Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.
Before you begin
Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.
You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.
Perform the installation
On your Mac, do the following steps in order.
Step 1: Check for software updates
Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.
On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available macOS updates.
If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.
Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows
Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.
Important: If you’re using a Mac notebook computer, connect it to a power source before continuing.
On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.
At the Introduction screen, click Continue.
The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).
If you have only one internal disk, choose the Windows ISO image, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions, then click Install.
If you have multiple internal disks, follow the onscreen instructions to select and format the disk you want to install Windows on and to choose the Windows ISO image.
If you select your startup disk: You can create an additional partition for Windows. Specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.
If you select an APFS-formatted disk: You can either create an additional partition on the disk for Windows, or erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows. If you choose to create an additional partition, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.
If you select a non-APFS-formatted disk: You can erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows.
If Boot Camp is already present on the disk you select, you also have the option to uninstall it.
Important: You can’t resize the partition later.
When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.
Step 3: Install Windows
In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.
When the installation is finished, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.
Macos Catalina Bootcamp Update
Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows
After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.
Macos Catalina Bootcamp Egpu
Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn't open after using Boot Camp Assistant.
In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.
Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.
If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.
If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.
When the installation is complete, click Finish.
After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.