+++
date = 2024-09-26T19:27:54+02:00
title = "Pretty names for mount points in /etc/fstab"

[taxonomies]
tags = ["TIL"]

[extra]
related = []
+++

The file manager I'm using on my Plasma 6 system,
[Dolphin](https://invent.kde.org/system/dolphin), has built-in support for
remote folders via the [KIO](https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/kio) framework.
Where before I was relying on [sshfs](https://github.com/libfuse/sshfs) mount
points in `/etc/fstab`, I decided to try out the Dolphin way and set up my
remote devices using its `sftp` backend.

After a couple of days now I can say that this works beautifully... until you
want to access the remote device on something that does not interface with KIO.
This is especially important for me (and
[others](https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/-/issues/71#note_640907))
since I want to be able to browse networked filesystems via my terminal and have
the ability to directly open a terminal in that location through Dolphin,
something which is not possible with the KIO backend.

So in the end I went back to mount points in `/etc/fstab`. One small problem
remained, however, and that was the way those mount points were displayed
within Dolphin. There seemed to be no way to customize a mount point's name or
icon, leading to an annoyingly long `/home/wolf/net/hosts/coleridge` entry in
the *Devices* section of Dolphin's places panel.

I couldn't find any help in `fstab(5)`, and indeed I had never heard of a way
to give a mount point a "pretty name". However, after a bit of searching, I
found people offhandedly mentioning the `x-gvfs-name` option. Some more
searching revealed that nobody seems to care about documenting these features,
but I was finally able to find an authoritative source within [gvfs
itself](https://github.com/GNOME/gvfs/blob/989d746ed771fc5e5bf134677cf8d571170b262e/monitor/udisks2/what-is-shown.txt#L29-L35).

Happily there's not only `x-gvfs-name` but also support for custom icons
through `x-gvfs-icon`. So, if you want your file manager to display a pretty
name and icon for one of your mount points, simply add the following to the
relevant entry in `/etc/fstab`:

```
x-gvfs-name=My%20Device,x-gvfs-icon=network-server
```

This should be possible at least on GNOME and KDE desktops. I imagine a bunch
of other environments and programs silently support this behaviour as well.

{{ img(path="places.png", format="png", alt="A screenshot of Dolphin, KDE's
file manager, showing the user's home directory with the places panel on the
left side containing various categorized entries. The entries below the Devices
category read flood, demeter, coleridge, and OnePlus 12, each with its own
pretty name and relevant icon.", caption="Dolphin displaying pretty names and
icons in the *Devices* category") }}