How to access a usb flash drive from the terminal?

Question

I only have access to the command line I need to backup my data (on the user folder) to a pen.

I don't know where/how can I do this is order to access the pen, and then do the cp command.

How can we do this?

Thanks.

Oli · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-29 00:43:33Z

up vote 1 down vote accepted

You'll need to know what the drive is called to mount it. To do that fire off:

sudo fdisk -l

You're looking for a partition that should look something like: /dev/sdb1. Remember what it's called.

Create a new directory in `/media` so you can mount the drive onto the filesystem:

    sudo  mkdir /media/usb

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb

When you're done, just fire off:

sudo umount /media/usb

answered Apr 29 '11 at 0:43

Oli♦
63.1k6125266

	I can't vote up. :( Sorry. I missed my normal user. :( Can I please ask if cp -r * /media/usb will copy ALL files and folders ? – MEM Apr 29 '11 at 0:56
	I'd use `rsync` -- something like: `rsync -avh ~/directory/ /media/usb/` – Oli♦ Apr 29 '11 at 1:13
	Thank you. Then I can perhaps burn a reconvery cd or somehting? – MEM Apr 29 '11 at 1:31
	@user15301 I don't know for that. Sounds like something for another question! – Oli♦ Apr 29 '11 at 1:44

1 Answer