---
name: "pumount"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "pmount"
version: "0.9.23-9"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pumount"
---

# pumount(1)

umount arbitrary hotpluggable devices as normal user

## NAME

pumount - umount arbitrary hotpluggable devices as normal user

## SYNOPSIS

**pumount** \[ *options* \] *device*

## DESCRIPTION

pumount is a wrapper around the standard umount program which permits normal users to umount removable devices without a matching /etc/fstab entry.

pumount also supports encrypted devices which use dm-crypt and have LUKS metadata. If a LUKS-capable **cryptsetup** is installed, pumount will umount the mapped device instead and call cryptsetup to close the decrypted device afterwards.

**pumount** expects the *device* as its only argument. This will umount  *device* from a directory below /media if policy is met (see below).

Please note that, as with **pmount**, you can use labels and uuids as described in **fstab** (5) for devices present in */etc/fstab*. In this case, the device name need to match exactly the corresponding entry in  */etc/fstab*, including the  *LABEL=* or *UUID=* part.

**Important note for Debian:** The permission to execute pumount is restricted to members of the system group **plugdev. Please add all desktop users who shall be able to use** pmount to this group by executing

-

  **adduser *user* plugdev**

(as root).

## OPTIONS

- **-l, --lazy**

  Lazy unmount. Detach the filesystem from the filesystem hierarchy now, and cleanup all references to the filesystem as soon as it is not busy anymore.  (Requires kernel 2.4.11 or later.) **IMPORTANT NOTES** This option should not be used unless you  **really** know what you are doing, as chances are high that it will result in data loss on the removable drive. Please run **pumount** manually and wait until it finishes. In addition,  **pumount** will not *luksClose* a device which was unmounted lazily.

- **--luks-force**

  Normally,  **pumount** will not  *luksClose* (see *cryptsetup*(1)) a device  **pmount** did not open. However, you can bypass this restriction with this flag. You probably will need it if you did mess around with the */var/lock/pmount\_luks* directory.

- **-h, --help**

  Print a help message and exit successfully.

- **-d, --debug**

  Enable verbose debug messages.

- **--version**

  Print the current version number and exit successfully.

## POLICY

The umount will succeed if all of the following conditions are met:

- •

  *device* is a block device in /dev/ (it does not need to exist if **-l** is supplied)

- •

  *device* is not in /etc/fstab (if it is, pmount executes  **umount**  *device* as the calling user to handle this transparently)

- •

  *device* is mounted according to /etc/mtab and /proc/mounts with the calling user's uid

- •

  mount point is in /media

## PUMOUNT AND MISSING DEVICES

**pumount** now supports unmounting devices that have gone missing for some reason, such as a brutal removal of the device, or a kernel/hardware problem. Just specify the mount point as argument for **pumount.**

## SEE ALSO

[**pmount**(1)](/pmount/1.md), **cryptsetup**(1), [**umount**(8)](/umount/8.md)

## AUTHOR

**pmount** is developed by Martin Pitt \<martin.pitt@canonical.com\>.