1. Introduction
Chroot is a powerful tool used in Linux to create a virtualized environment within a running operating system. A chroot environment is created by isolating a directory and its contents from the rest of the system. Once a chroot environment is created, the directory becomes the root directory for any processes that run inside the chroot.
However, once a chroot is no longer needed, it’s important to unmount the chrooted filesystem to ensure the system is returned to its original state.
In this article, we’ll discuss how to unmount a formerly chroot’d filesystem in Linux.
2. Unmounting a Formerly Chroot’d Filesystem
The process of unmounting a chrooted filesystem is straightforward. However, it’s important to understand the steps involved to ensure a smooth unmount process.
2.1. Identify the Mounted Filesystem
Before unmounting a chrooted filesystem, we must first identify the mounted filesystem. To do this, use the mount command with no arguments to display a list of all mounted filesystems on the system:
$ mount
/dev/sda1 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/sdb1 on /mnt/data type ext4 (rw,relatime)
/dev/sdb2 on /mnt/archive type ext4 (rw,relatime)
/mnt/archive/chroot on /mnt/archive/chroot type none (rw,bind)
The output will be a list of all the currently mounted filesystems on the system, including any chrooted filesystems.
In this example, the chrooted filesystem that we want to unmount is located at /mnt/archive/chroot.
2.2. Exit the Chrooted Environment
Before we can unmount a chrooted filesystem, we must exit the chrooted environment. To exit the chrooted environment, use the exit command:
$ exit
2.3. Unmount the Filesystem
Now that we’ve exited the chrooted environment, we can unmount the chrooted filesystem using the unmount command:
$ umount /mnt/archive/chroot
If the filesystem is busy, we may need to force the unmount using the -f option.
$ umount -f /mnt/archive/chroot
3. Conclusion
Unmounting a chrooted filesystem is a simple process, but it’s important to understand the steps involved to ensure the process goes smoothly. Following the steps outlined in this article, we can easily unmount a formerly chroot’d filesystem in Linux.