How to Quickly Create an ISO File from the Command Line for Beginners

Steps to Create an ISO File from the Command Line

Basic Commands in the Command Line

Before you start creating an ISO file, it’s important to understand some of the basic commands that are often used in command line. These commands will help you navigate and manage files and directories easily:

  • dir (on Windows) or ls (on Linux/Mac): Used to display the contents of the current directory.
  • cd: Used to move to another directory.
  • mkdir: Create a new directory.
  • cp (on Linux/Mac) or copy (on Windows): Copying a file or directory.

Creating an ISO File from a Folder or Directory

To create an ISO file  from a folder or directory, you can use a command like mkisofs (on Linux) or equivalent software on Windows like PowerISO. Here are the general steps to use mkisofs:

  • Navigate to the directory that contains the source folder with the cd command.
  • Run mkisofs commands  with output specifications and source directories. General syntax:
mkisofs -o output.iso /path/to/source_directory

-o output.iso: Specifies the output ISO file name.

/path/to/source_directory: Path to the source directory you want to create into an ISO file.

For example, to create  an ISO file named backup.iso from a folder named backup_folder, run:

mkisofs -o backup.iso /home/user/backup_folder

This will result in  an ISO file named backup.iso in the current directory.

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Create ISO Files from CD/DVD

To create an ISO file from a CD/DVD, the dd command  can be used on Linux/Mac. dd allows you to create bit-by-bit images of CDs/DVDs, including all data, boot sectors, and more.

For example, if your CD/DVD drive is in /dev/cdrom, you can use the following command to create an ISO file:

Bash

dd if=/dev/cdrom of=output.iso bs=4M
  • if=/dev/cdrom: Specifies the input device, in this case the CD/DVD drive.
  • of=output.iso: Specifies the output file, in this case the ISO file.
  • bs=4M: Sets the block size to increase speed.

Handle errors that may arise during the process.

  • Access error: If you are experiencing an access error, make sure you run the command with root permission (using sudo on Linux).
  • Media error: If there is a problem with the physical disk (such as scratches),  the dd process  may stop. Use the conv=noerror,sync option to go ahead and fill in the missing data with zero:
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=output.iso bs=4M conv=noerror,sync

This will ensure that  the ISO file remains created even if there are unreadable sectors.

ISO File Verification

After creating an ISO file, it is crucial to check its integrity to ensure that it is not corrupted and that all data is copied correctly. One commonly used method is to generate and check checksum from ISO files. Checksum is a unique value generated from the data in a file; if the file changes (for example, due to corruption), then the resulting checksum will be different.

You can use commands such as md5sum, sha1sum, or sha256sum to generate a checksum from the ISO file. For example:

sha256sum output.iso

This command will generate a long string that is the checksum of the file. Compare this value with  the original checksum (if available) to make sure the file isn’t corrupted. If the values match, then  the ISO file is safe and not corrupted.

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