Ubuntu Fails to Boot Due to Misconfiguration in /etc/fstab

Case: While setting up a static mount in /etc/fstab got the wrong settings and now Ubuntu won’t boot. Fixing fstab is required.

Solution

1. Enter the GRUB menu at boot time:
   hold Shift if you are booting with BIOS
   – or –
   hold Esc if you are booting with UEFI
2. When the menu loads, with your cursor focused on the default option (ex: Ubuntu), press e for command line
3. At the bottom of the parameters list, find Linux and add to it’s parameters init=/bin/bash
4. Ctrl+X or F10 to boot
5. mount -n -o remount,rw /
6. nano /etc/fstab
   * or whatever is the relevant file editor for your distro
7. Comment the section where UUID’s are wrong with a #
8. Reboot.
9. Set up static mounts properly this time.

Sources

1. https://www.systutorials.com/bypassing-bad-fstab-failure-while-booting-linux/
2. https://askubuntu.com/questions/16042/how-to-get-to-the-grub-menu-at-boot-time
3. https://askubuntu.com/questions/19486/how-do-i-add-a-kernel-boot-parameter