Simplest Way to Mount / Extract iso files without Burning

Isn’t it pretty annoying to burn any .iso file to make it work? In linux, you have a pretty simple way to mount an iso file without even burning them. This allows you to view the files within the iso file as simply as you would view files in any normal directory.

Though we will always prefer mounting, because extraction takes extra space and also the mounting process is done dynamically.

Again, an .iso file can be viewed as a directory if you see them through extraction softwares. (Saying that, doesn’t an iso file act as a directory only after being mounted?)

Process

1. First you will have to have super user permission or sudo to start proceedings.

2. If you have that then open an terminal and make a directory with any file name (supposing all the operations will be done in the existing directory only)

mkdir directory-path-to-mount

3. Then suppose you want to mount myfile.iso. So just type this code and hit ENTER

mount -o loop my-iso-file.iso directory-path-to-mount

and you are done.

[Note: You can use file roller extraction software to open an .iso file and see files directory wise and then choose the appropriate one. Or you can use Xtractor if you want to find all the individual files regardless of the directory.]