Mounting ISO Files on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to mount ISO files on Ubuntu 18.04 | 16.04.

You typically see ISO files when you want to install an operating system or consume movie, audio or other archive data of CDs | DVDs. This is the most popular way to archive large data to be downloaded or transferred.

For example, Ubuntu comes in ISO file format. If you want to install Ubuntu today, you’ll probably have to download an ISO image file. I doubt you can purchase Ubuntu OS on a DVD nowadays.

For students and new users looking for a Linux system to start learning on, the easiest place to start is Ubuntu Linux OS…. It’s a great Linux operating system for beginners and folks looking for easier Linux distribution to use.

Ubuntu is an open source Linux operating systems that runs on desktops, laptops, server and other devices…

When using Ubuntu, you will find that Linux isn’t so different than Windows and other operating systems in so many ways, especially when it comes to using the system to get work done.…

Both Ubuntu and Windows systems allow you to be productive, easy to use, reliable and enable you to install and run thousands of programs from gaming to productivity suite software for individuals and businesses.

To mount or extract ISO file format on Ubuntu, follow the steps below:

Option 1: Mount via Ubuntu Command Line

In most cases, you may use Ubuntu desktop to mount ISO files. However, in some instances where you’re working on a server terminal, using the command line is your only option.

Linux mount command allows you to mount files at a mount point you specify. For example, if you want to mount an ISO file named mini.iso in the /media/iso (mount point) folder, you’ll run the command below:

For this tutorial, our ISO file is saved in John’s home folder. ( /home/john/mini.iso)

To mount the ISO file, run the commands below:

sudo mount /home/john/mini.iso /media/iso -o loop

When you mount it, you may get a message as shown below: that the device is mounted but read-only.

mount: /media/iso: WARNING: device write-protected, mounted read-only.

The -o loop option tell the mount command to mount the ISO file as a loop device. The loop device is mounted at the /media/iso folder. (aka, mount point). Loop devices have special functions in Linux.

Now that the device is mounted at the mount point, all you need to do to view its content is to use the ls command.

Example:

ls /media/iso

That should list the content of the ISO file.

To un-mount the attached or mounted loop device, simply run the commands below:

sudo umount /media/iso/

If the device is in use, the command will fail to un-mount . You’ll need to exit out of the loop device to un-mount.

Option 2: Use Ubuntu Desktop App

If you’re using Ubuntu desktop simple right-click the ISO file and mount it using  Gnome’s disk image mounter.

Ubuntu ISO Mount

Once the ISO image is mounted, it will appear on the desktop where you will be able to browse its content using Gnome’s file manager. To un-mount, simply select the mounted device on the desktop and click Unmount..

Ubuntu mount iso

That should do it!

Conclusion:

Students and new users who are learning how to use Linux systems should preferably choose Ubuntu. It’s simple, and suitable for beginners. This post shows you how to mount and un-mount ISO files on Ubuntu

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