ISO Images
This article will explain how to make ISO images in a Linux environment and various other things you can do with/to ISO images. Everything will be done from the CLI (or command line).
Contents
ISO from CD/DVD
To make an ISO from your CD/DVD, place the media in your drive but do not mount it. If it "automounts", unmount it (eg, umount /dev/cdrom).
- For a DVD:
dd if=/dev/dvd of=dvd.iso
- For a CD:
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=cd.iso
- For a CD (as SCSI):
dd if=/dev/scd0 of=cd.iso
also,
cat /dev/cdrecorder >> /home/username/isoimagename.iso
ISO from files on Hard Drive (HDD)
To make an ISO from files on an HDD, create a directory which holds the files you place in your ISO image. Then use the mkisofs command.
- Example commands:
mkisofs -o /tmp/cd.iso /tmp/directory/
This results in a file called cd.iso in folder /tmp which contains all the files and directories in /tmp/directory/.
mkisofs -o isoimagename.iso -J -r /home/username/directory_for_iso
where -J means use "Joliet" (i.e., generate Joliet directory records in addition to regular iso9660 file names. This is primarily useful when the discs are to be used on Windows-NT or Windows-95 machines). The -r is for the directory and file permissions, user/group IDs, etc.
Burn ISO (image) to a CD
Once you have built your .iso, you can burn this image to a CD using:
cdrecord -v speed=8 dev=ATA:1,1,0 isoimagename.iso
where the dev parameters can be found by issuing the following as root:
cdrecord -scanbus
Note: You should use 'dev=/dev/hdX' with v2.6 and later kernels.
For example, if your CD drive is on /dev/hdc:
cdrecord -v blank=fast -multi -tao -data speed=16 dev=/dev/hdc isoimagename.iso
Mount an ISO image in Linux
It is possible to mount an ISO image in Linux just like any device or file system. This is a convenient way of backing up your CDs and DVDs onto your hard drive and be able to read all of the files on these discs. It is also a good way to check your ISO images before burning them to disc.
- Step 1: Create a mount point for the ISO:
mkdir /mnt/iso
- Step 2: Now mount the ISO in the mount point with the following command:
mount myiso.iso /mnt/iso -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0
where myiso.iso is your ISO file.
You can also place the above mount command in your /etc/fstab file for automatic mounting upon boot up (and as a "permanent" mount).
If you wish to mount more than one ISO image, you can use a different device (e.g. /dev/loop1). By default you have 8 loop devices (loop0 - loop7). You can extend this number up to 255. To do this, you will need to edit your /usr/src/linux/drivers/block/loop.c file and change the following:
#define MAX_LOOP 8
to
#define MAX_LOOP 255
and then rebuild the module. (see here: Linux Loop Devices for details.)
devs
In "dev=ATA:x,y,z", x is 'channel', y is 0 for 'master' and 1 for 'slave', z seems to always be zero (not sure why).
Thus,
| devs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IDE Port | Master/slave | Device | cdrecord |
| 1 | master | /dev/hda |
"dev=ATA:0,0,0"
|
| 1 | slave | /dev/hdb |
"dev=ATA:0,1,0"
|
| 2 | master | /dev/hdc |
"dev=ATA:1,0,0"
|
| 2 | slave | /dev/hdd |
"dev=ATA:1,1,0"
|
| 3 | master | /dev/hde |
etc. |
| 3 | slave | /dev/hdf |
|
| 4 | master | /dev/hdg |
|
| 4 | slave | /dev/hdh |
|
See also
- CD-Writing-HOWTO
- cdrtools (e.g., mkisofs)
- losetup
- dd
