How to mount ISO image on Linux

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An ISO file is an image file of a CD/DVD or other disc. It contains all the files from the disc, neatly packed into a single .iso file. This allows users to burn new copies of the disc, or they can open the ISO file to browse and copy its contents to their system.

An ISO file can also be mounted, which is the virtual equivalent to inserting a disc into your PC. The operating system will treat the ISO as a physical CD rom. In this guide, we’ll see how to open and mount an ISO file on a Linux system. This can be done from both command line and GUI, so we’ll be covering the steps for both methods.

Since the instructions will vary depending on what desktop environment you’re using, we’ll be covering the steps for GNOME, KDE, and Xfce. The steps for command line should be the same across any Linux distribution.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to open and mount an ISO file via GNOME GUI
  • How to open and mount an ISO file via KDE GUI
  • How to open and mount an ISO file via Xfce GUI
  • How to open and mount an ISO file via command line
Mounting and accessing an ISO file in Linux

Mounting and accessing an ISO file in Linux

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System Any Linux distro
Software N/A
Other Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

How to open and mount an ISO file via GNOME GUI

GNOME comes with the “Disk Image Mounter” application installed by default. If you’re using GNOME, you can follow along with the step by step instructions below to mount and open an ISO file.

  1. Right click the ISO file and then click on “Open With Disk Image Mounter.”
    2. Open the ISO file with Disk Image Mounter

    Open the ISO file with Disk Image Mounter

  2. We can see that our ISO file has been mounted, and is accessible in GNOME’s file browser.
    3. Access the contents of the ISO file by opening the mount in file browser

    Access the contents of the ISO file by opening the mount in file browser

  3. Simply click on the mounted disc in order to access its contents.
    4. The contents of our ISO file can be seen here

    The contents of our ISO file can be seen here

  4. To unmount the ISO file, click the eject icon in the file browser.
    5. Unmount the ISO file by clicking on the eject button

    Unmount the ISO file by clicking on the eject button

  5. Note that you can also unmount or access the ISO from GNOME’s quick launch toolbar.
    6. You can right click the mount in the GNOME quick launch toolbar to unmount it

    You can right click the mount in the GNOME quick launch toolbar to unmount it

  6. If you simply want to extract the contents of the ISO file, without actually mounting it, you can right click the file and select the “Extract Here” option.
    7. Extract the ISO file to have a copy of all the files on your system

    Extract the ISO file to have a copy of all the files on your system

  7. Your files will now be extracted into the same directory where the ISO file resides.
    8. The files are being extracted

    The files are being extracted

How to open and mount an ISO file via KDE GUI

KDE comes with the Dolphin file manager, which doesn’t always have a way to mount ISO files by default. If you’re using KDE Plasma, you can follow along with the step by step instructions below to enable the mount option and use it to open an ISO file.

  1. Search for and open the Services menu to configure file manager services.
    2. Open the services configuration menu

    Open the services configuration menu

  2. Click on the “Download New Services” option.
    3. Click the option to download new services

    Click the option to download new services

  3. Search for “mount” and download one of the add-ons that offer the function of adding “mount” and “unmount” options to the right click context menu. In this example, we’ll use “Mount Unmount ISO” add-on, which we recommend because it works well.
    4. Install one of the add-ons to enable mounting ISO files through right click

    Install one of the add-ons to enable mounting ISO files through right click

  4. Once the add-on is installed, locate your ISO file in the Dolphin file browser, right click on it, and select to mount it.
    5. Right click the ISO file to mount it

    Right click the ISO file to mount it

  5. You can access your mounted ISO file under the “Devices” menu on the left side of Dolphin. Now you’ll be able to open the files inside the ISO, or copy them over to your system.
    6. Access the mounted ISO from under the devices menu

    Access the mounted ISO from under the devices menu

  6. To unmount the ISO file, right click on it under Dolphin’s devices menu, and click unmount.
    7. Right click the device to unmount it

    Right click the device to unmount it

  7. If you simply want to extract the contents of the ISO file, without actually mounting it, you can right click the file and select the “Extract archive here” option.
    8. Extract the ISO file to put all its contents on your system

    Extract the ISO file to put all its contents on your system

How to open and mount an ISO file via Xfce GUI

Xfce comes with Thunar file manager, which doesn’t have a built-in option, by default, to mount ISO files. One of the easiest ways to gain this ability is to install the gnome-disk-utility software with your system’s package manager. After it’s installed, you can use the instructions below to mount and unmount ISO files.

To install gnome-disk-utility, use the appropriate command below.

On Ubuntu (or Xubuntu), Debian, and Linux Mint:

$ sudo apt install gnome-disk-utility

On CentOS, Fedora, AlmaLinux, and RHEL:

$ sudo dnf install gnome-disk-utility

On Arch Linux and Manjaro:

$ sudo pacman -S gnome-disk-utility
  1. With GNOME Disk Utility installed, you can right click on your ISO file and go to “Open With Disk Image Mounter.” This will mount your ISO file.
    2. Mount the ISO file with Disk Image Mounter

    Mount the ISO file with Disk Image Mounter

  2. To open the mount, just click on the appropriate name under the “Devices” menu in Thunar. Now you’ll be able to open the files inside the ISO, or copy them over to your system.
    3. Access the mounted ISO from under the devices menu

    Access the mounted ISO from under the devices menu

  3. To unmount the ISO file, right click on it under Thunar’s devices menu, and click unmount.
    4. Right click the device to unmount it

    Right click the device to unmount it

  4. If you simply want to extract the contents of the ISO file, without actually mounting it, you can right click the file and select the “Extract Here” option.
    5. Extract the ISO file to put all its contents on your system

    Extract the ISO file to put all its contents on your system

How to open and mount an ISO file via command line

Mounting ISO files via the command line will work independently of whatever GUI you’re using. Follow the instructions below to mount and open an ISO file via command line.

  1. Start by creating the directory where you’d like to mount the ISO file. 
    $ sudo mkdir /media/mydisc
  2. Next, use the mount command to mount the ISO file to the directory we created. 
    $ sudo mount ~/Downloads/ubuntu-20.04.2-live-server-amd64.iso /media/mydisc -o loop

    Of course, replace our ISO file path with that of your own.

    3. Mounting and accessing an ISO file via command line

    Mounting and accessing an ISO file via command line

  3. You can now access the contents of the ISO file through the mounted directory. 
    $ ls -l /media/mydisc
total 74
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2048 Feb  1 12:57 boot
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2048 Feb  1 12:57 casper
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2048 Feb  1 12:57 dists
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2048 Feb  1 12:57 EFI
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2048 Feb  1 12:57 install
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 34816 Feb  1 12:57 isolinux
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 26452 Feb  1 12:57 md5sum.txt
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2048 Feb  1 12:57 pool
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2048 Feb  1 12:57 preseed
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     1 Feb  1 12:57 ubuntu -> .
  4. When you’re ready to unmount the ISO file, use the umount command. 
    $ sudo umount /media/mydisc

Closing Thoughts

In this guide, we saw how to mount and open an ISO file on Linux through a variety of desktop environments and command line. This allows us to access all the contents of a disc image file, and optionally copy them over to our system.

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