How to check for a newly external HDD in Linux and mount it

list all the available disks

First, list all the available disks to see if the new HDD is recognized.

sudo fdisk -l

This will display all the connected disks. The devices are usually named /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, and so on, depending on the order of connection.

Check for Partitions

When If partitions exist, you may see a partition like /dev/sdb1 on /dev/sdb

when no partitions exist, Use fdisk to create a new partition on the HDD

sudo fdisk /dev/sdb

Create a Filesystem

create a filesystem on the new partition

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1

Create a Mount Point, and mount it

Create a directory where the new HDD will be mounted

sudo mkdir /mnt/data
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data

Make the Mount Permanent

add a line on /etc/fstab

/dev/sdb1 /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 0

sudo vi /etc/fstab

Verify the mount

df -h

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