Written 2 Sep 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card. Buy links are not tagged yet.

See stable leftover-box disk names by UUID

After blkid shows labels and UUIDs, use a simple ls under /dev/disk/by-uuid (and optional by-label) so you see the fixed paths Linux already made — names that do not move when sdb becomes sdc.

A device letter like sdb1 can change when you unplug and replug. Linux already keeps a second set of names under /dev/disk/ that stay put. Tonight you only list those folders. You do not mount, format, wipe, or rewrite fstab.

Skip until SSH works

If you cannot log in from the couch yet, stop. That is SSH from the couch. Stable paths do not help a login that fails.

If you only need the list of disks and USB sticks, that is see disks and USB sticks on the leftover box (lsblk). If you only need which folders are already attached, that is see which leftover-box folders are already attached (findmnt). If you only need labels and UUIDs printed as text, that is read leftover-box disk labels and UUIDs (blkid). If you only need hardware-style fixed names, that is see stable leftover-box disk names by hardware id. If you only need room left on a path, that is see if the leftover box still has room (df).

What this is

/dev/disk/by-uuid and /dev/disk/by-label are folders of short names Linux builds for you. Each name is a symlink — in plain English, a pointer that says “this UUID (or label) is really /dev/sda1 right now.” The letter at the end can move. The UUID path stays the same. Night one is a look with ls. You do not mount, unmount, format, or wipe anything.

Practice: list the stable names

SSH in from the couch, then ask:

ls /dev/disk/by-uuid

You should see a list of long IDs — the same UUIDs you saw in blkid, now as folder entries. In plain English: Linux already made a fixed name for each slice that has a recognizable filesystem.

Optional: the same idea by friendly label (only slices that have a LABEL show up):

ls /dev/disk/by-label

Optional: see what each UUID name points at right now:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid

The right-hand side is usually something like ../../sda1 or ../../sdb1. That is the symlink target — today’s device letter. Tomorrow the letter might change; the UUID entry stays. Home-safe look only. Do not format, wipe, remount, or edit fstab tonight.

Optional: after you plug in a USB for backup

Plug the stick into the leftover box. Run lsblk and blkid so you know the letter and the UUID, then run ls /dev/disk/by-uuid (or ls -l). You should see that UUID appear, pointing at today’s /dev/… name. If you need the mount map next, that is see which leftover-box folders are already attached. The backup job, once a path is live, is a backup of the leftover-box folder.

Useful extras, still a look

Skip mount and umount as the job. Night one is listing the stable names Linux already made.

Skip rewriting disks, dd, shred, fdisk, parted, format, or rewriting fstab as the lesson. Those are not this note.

Skip buying a NAS because a UUID looks unfamiliar. Free room is leftover-box disk-space. Disk names without tags are leftover-box lsblk. Mount maps are leftover-box findmnt. Printed labels and UUIDs are leftover-box blkid.

Skip screen, tmux, and port 22 forwarding. Keep SSH on the house network: keep the leftover box on the house network.

Skip awk, sed, and install as new pages this cycle.

What this is not

This is not leftover-box lsblk. That lists disks and USB sticks by name: see disks and USB sticks on the leftover box. It is not leftover-box findmnt. That shows which folders are already attached: see which leftover-box folders are already attached. It is not leftover-box blkid. That prints LABEL, UUID, and TYPE as text: read leftover-box disk labels and UUIDs. It is not leftover-box by-id. That lists hardware-style fixed names under /dev/disk/by-id: see stable leftover-box disk names by hardware id. It is not leftover-box disk-space (df). That shows how full a mounted path is: see if the leftover box still has room. It is not leftover-box disk, which focuses on how big the main disk already is: see how big the leftover box disk already is. It is not leftover-box USB-disk, a shorter “did the stick show up?” check: see if the USB backup disk showed up. It is not the backup copy itself: a backup of the leftover-box folder.

What next

Need labels and UUIDs printed first? Read leftover-box disk labels and UUIDs. Need the disk-name list? See disks and USB sticks on the leftover box. Need which folders are already attached? See which leftover-box folders are already attached. Need hardware-style fixed names under /dev/disk/by-id? See stable leftover-box disk names by hardware id. Need room left on a path? See if the leftover box still has room. Stick visible and ready for a second copy? A backup of the leftover-box folder. Need how big the main disk already is? See how big the leftover box disk already is. Keep SSH on the house network: keep the leftover box on the house network. Leftover-box-awk, leftover-box-sed, and leftover-box-install stay deferred this cycle.

Skip

• Skip if SSH still fails. Finish SSH from the couch first.
• Skip leftover-box lsblk, leftover-box findmnt, leftover-box blkid, leftover-box disk-space, or total disk size as tonight's job if you only came for the stable /dev/disk/by-uuid names. Those notes already exist.
• Skip mount/umount as the lesson, and skip rewriting disks, dd, shred, fdisk, parted, format, and rewriting fstab.
• Skip buying a NAS because a UUID looks unfamiliar.
• Skip awk/sed/install as new pages this cycle, screen, tmux, and port 22 forwarding.
• Skip opening SSH to the internet. That is keep the leftover box on the house network. Do not forward port 22.