How to mount an ISO image file?

[dkt]

Hi

How to mount an ISO image file (not a CDROM device) in Tru64?

[Venkatesh BL]

I don't think its possible.

[dkt]

So, is it possible by using third party programs?

[Eric van Dijken]

Have you heard of any such "3rd party" programs?

I don't think they exist.

[Michael Schulte zur Sur]

Hi,

mount requires a block device, so a normal file would be excluded. Don't you have access to a cdrom or what is the reason for wanting to mount a normal file? What do you want to do with the image? Just extract the content? The only alternative I could think of is to create a raw partition and copy the image to that. However I am not sure, whether you will be able to mount it then.

greetings,

Michael

[dkt]

I don't have a cdrom for my 1U alphaserver.

Sometimes I need to access iso images.
Currently, one passible way is to use Tru64 as NFS client and another server which has cdrom or can mount iso files as NFS server.

[Devesh Pant_1]

Your best bet is nfs mounts from another server which has a CDROM drive.
I do it that way.

thanks
DP

[kobylka]

You can use File Looper v1.0.0 software product to create file loops, i.e. attach an iso file to a virtual block device special file for use with mount:

A demo run from File Looper on Tru64 V5.1B-3:

bash-4.3# sizer -v
Compaq Tru64 UNIX V5.1B (Rev. 2650); Sat Dec 14 15:56:28 CET 2019
bash-4.3#
bash-4.3# fl -v
File looper version 1.0.0 on OSF/1
bash-4.3#
bash-4.3# fl -h
File looper syntax:

  $ fl -a <dev> <file>
  Attach file to device.

  $ fl -d <dev>
  Detach file from device.

  $ fl -l
  List attached files.

  $ fl -h
  Print help.

  $ fl -v
  Print version.

For more info type man fl
bash-4.3#

Pick .iso file to loop mount:

bash-4.3# ls -l debian-10.8.0-mips-netinst.iso
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root    system  294803456 Mar 30 12:37 debian-10.8.0-mips-netinst.iso
bash-4.3#

Attach iso file to a device:

bash-4.3# fl -a /dev/loop/debianiso ./debian-10.8.0-mips-netinst.iso
bash-4.3#

Mount device:

bash-4.3# mount -t cdfs /dev/loop/debianiso /mnt/CDROM
bash-4.3#

Use mounted filesystem (access, read, copy):

bash-4.3# ls -l /mnt/CDROM
total 98
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      2048 Feb  6 14:40 .disk
-r--r--r--  1 root    system      8158 Feb  6 14:40 README.html
-r--r--r--  1 root    system      291 Mar  4  2017 README.mirrors.html
-r--r--r--  1 root    system        86 Mar  4  2017 README.mirrors.txt
-r--r--r--  1 root    system      4816 Feb  6 14:40 README.txt
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      2048 Feb  6 14:40 css
lr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system        1 Feb  6 14:40 debian -> .
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      2048 Feb  6 14:40 dists
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      2048 Feb  6 14:40 doc
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      2048 Feb  6 14:40 firmware
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      2048 Feb  6 14:40 install
-r--r--r--  1 root    system    69760 Feb  6 14:40 md5sum.txt
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      4096 Feb  6 14:40 pics
dr-xr-xr-x  1 root    system      2048 Feb  6 14:40 pool
bash-4.3#

Unmount when done:

bash-4.3# umount /mnt/CDROM
bash-4.3#

List loop attachments:

bash-4.3# fl -l
/dev/loop/debianiso: /usr/users/root/debian-10.8.0-mips-netinst.iso (294803456 bytes)
bash-4.3#

Detach file from device:

bash-4.3# fl -d /dev/loop/debianiso
bash-4.3#

Verify:

bash-4.3# fl -l
INFO: No loops attached
bash-4.3#

And that's all!

Hopefully it may help sysadmins by bringing useful functionality to these systems.

Currently, only the cdfs file system is supported (i.e. only cdfs can be mounted through the virtual device special file created). This is enough to mount any iso file created on Windows or Linux (for example using mkisofs) and makes interoperation a lot easier than before.

File Looper is proprietary software and needs a per-node license to be used. Regular purchase price for a license is 49,95 Euro.

If you are interested, please contact me by pm or directly at truhobbyist@gmail.com and I'll happily guide you through the setup process.

Kind regards

Kobylka