Create an ISO image out of a directory from command line

joe.pelayo · #1 7th February 2010, 12:24 AM

Hello everybody.

I am implementing a strategy to organize my data among the several machines I work with and thought that getting some ISO images out of it could be a good idea because that way data would be 'read only' thus allowing for easier synchronization.

At first I thought of using the "dd" command to create the ISO out of a directory, but it fails:

Code:

axayacatl-lord:Desktop joe$ dd if=Directory/ of=Directory.iso
dd: Directory/: Is a directory
0+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes transferred in 0.000299 secs (0 bytes/sec)
axayacatl-lord:Desktop joe$

Since I am still working on some of these data the ISOs would have need to be created regularly. I tried using Brasero but it keeps complaining about some non-standard filenames (for Windows compatibility I think, which is irrelevant here).

So, I have two questions:

Is the ISO 'format' capable of storing complex directory structures with long filenames (pretty much as any Linux filesystem does), or are there some inherent limitations?

Supposing the ISO format is not constrained, which command would allow me to create an ISO file out of a directory?

Thanks,
Joe.

#2 7th February 2010, 01:40 AM

Hello Joe,
There is the "mkisofs" command. check out "mkisofs --help" and the man. You can make a iso of a directory and burn it all in one CLI. :

Code:

mkisofs -r /opt/oracle | cdrecord dev=/dev/sr0 -v -eject-

Hope this helps,

Ky

smr54 · #3 7th February 2010, 01:42 AM

A dvd or CD? If cd

mkisofs -J -r -o $1 $2

Where $1 is the output file and $2 the directory.

If a dvd, you would then run growisofs.

If the output file was dvd.iso and your dvd writing device is /dev/scd0

Then
growisofs -Z /dev/scd0=dvd.iso -speed=4

see man mkisofs

Oh, if burning it to CD, rather than DVD

cdrecord dev=/dev/scd0 outfile.iso

#4 7th February 2010, 01:51 AM

Is there a echo in here?

I notice allot of options for file name length available with the "mkisofs" command.

Ky

smr54 · #5 7th February 2010, 02:10 AM

Oops, you beat me to it. (I then walked away from the computer, so didn't even notice)

Errm, yeah, what Kryder said.

joe.pelayo · #6 7th February 2010, 05:13 AM

Hello guys,

Thanks for your responses. I don't intend to burn it, just want a 'read-only' portable filesystem. Being this the case, does it make any difference whether I use one command or the other? I mean, right now the data uses about 517MB (so the 'cd' option works) but if it grows beyond a CD size, would it cause a problem to use its related command?

EDIT: Apparently I got it guys, I used the following command: mkisofs -input-charset default -r -o File.iso Directory
Now it remains to be seen if the resulting image will be properly read in the Mac I work with at school.

Thanks,
Joe.