How do I extract an ISO on Linux without root access

Question

I have a large ISO file on a server, and I need to access the file in it, without having root access. Thus, I can't simply mount it. What should I do to be able to extract an ISO on LInux without root access?

Answer 1

Many of the GUI tools like file roller will use isoinfo in the background.

You can extract a single file from an ISO like so:

isoinfo -i image.iso -x /isolinux/initrd.img > initrd.img

The redirection is required as -x extracts to stdout.

If you'd like to list contents of a folder in the ISO:

isoinfo -i image.iso -l

example output:

Directory listing of /
d---------   0    0    0            2048      0 1900 [     26 02]  .
d---------   0    0    0            2048      0 1900 [     26 02]  ..
d---------   0    0    0            2048 Feb  6 2010 [     27 02]  i386
...

Answer 2

If you have GUI access, right click the iso, and choose "Open with Archive Manager..." or simply run:

file-roller -e /path/to/extract/to /path/to/iso

Answer 3

If you can mount FUSE filesystems, FuseISO is an option for mounting the image.

Answer 4

If 7zip is installed this one is really easy:

7z x Your.iso -oWhere/You/Want/It/Extracted/To

to extract the whole iso.

Answer 5

If you have 7-zip or unrar installed you can use to either extract iso's.

Answer 6

You don't need to mount it. ISO is just like any other storage file, like a .zip. There are a lot of iso specific tools to do the trick which you should be able to compile as a user, but the easiest way should be to do:

file-roller -h filename.iso

Answer 7

If you only have cli access you can use file-roller; it creates a lot of weird gtk errors but works.

file-roller --display=:0 /tmp/my.iso -e /tmp/my_iso/

The important factor is the --display=:0. It could be any display really, this is just to make sure it runs.

This will work even if no X display is running.