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The Linux system administrator also has the ability to manually '''mount''' (connect) and '''un-mount''' (disconnect) partitions in order to perform maintenance on the file system (for example un-mounting the '''/home''' partition to install software and prevent users from logging in during that process). Those command are called: '''mount''' and '''umount''' (that is NOT a typo)!
A useful example of un-mounting and mounting manually would be if a software update is to be performed, and users are not allowed to access the system. In this case, the system administrator could send an alert for the users to log-off the system due to system maintenance, un-mount the '''/home''' directory to prevent any regular users to login, and then update the software. Once the software has been updated, then mount the '''/home''' directory to allow user access. Since administrators may need to log into the system with their regular user accounts, and then issue the '''su''' command to connect into the '''root''' account, there is a dilemma: How can /home be unmounted when you are logged in as a regular user. The solution would be to reboot the machine and boot into single-user mode. This allows the system administrator to connect into the system in a text-based system automatically logged in as root. Remember that '''the root account has its own home directory''' (i.e.'''/root''') which is not associated with the ''/home'' directory (which can now be un-mounted and mounted for system maintenance).
