---
name: "mount_msdos"
section: "8"
platform: "macos"
package: "msdosfs"
version: "788.100.31"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/mount_msdos"
---

# mount\_msdos(8)

mount an MS-DOS file system

## NAME

**mount\_msdos** – mount an MS-DOS file system

## SYNOPSIS

**mount\_msdos** \[**-o** *options*\] \[**-u** *uid*\] \[**-g** *gid*\] \[**-m** *mask*\] *special* *node*

## DESCRIPTION

The **mount\_msdos** command attaches the MS-DOS filesystem residing on the device *special* to the global filesystem namespace at the location indicated by *node*. This command is normally executed by [mount(8)](/mount/8.md) at boot time, but can be used by any user to mount an MS-DOS file system on any directory that they own (provided, of course, that they have appropriate access to the device that contains the file system).

The options are as follows:

- **-o** *options*

  Use the specified mount *options*, as described in [mount(8)](/mount/8.md).

- **-u** *uid*

  Set the owner of the files in the file system to *uid*. The default owner is the owner of the directory on which the file system is being mounted.

- **-g** *gid*

  Set the group of the files in the file system to *gid*. The default group is the group of the directory on which the file system is being mounted.

- **-m** *mask*

  Specify the maximum file permissions for files in the file system. (For example, a *mask* of 755 specifies that, by default, the owner should have read, write, and execute permissions for files, but others should only have read and execute permissions. See [chmod(1)](/chmod/1.md) for more information about octal file modes.) Only the nine low-order bits of *mask* are used. The default *mask* is taken from the directory on which the file system is being mounted.

## SEE ALSO

[mount(2)](/mount/2.md), [unmount(2)](/unmount/2.md), [fstab(5)](/fstab/5.md), [mount(8)](/mount/8.md)

## CAVEATS

FreeBSD 2.1 and earlier versions could not handle cluster sizes larger than 16K. Just mounting an MS-DOS file system could cause corruption to any mounted file system. Cluster sizes larger than 16K are unavoidable for file system sizes larger than 1G, and also occur when filesystems larger than 1G are shrunk to smaller than 1G using FIPS.

## HISTORY

The **mount\_msdos** utility first appeared in FreeBSD 2.0. Its predecessor, the **mount\_pcfs** utility appeared in FreeBSD 1.0, and was abandoned in favor of the more aptly-named **mount\_msdos**.