nbdkit-iso-plugin(1)

📦
version 1.48.0 · 11 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💿 nbdkit-iso-plugin(1) — bestie edition ✨

okay so like, welcome to nbdkit-iso-plugin(1), the manual page you didn't know you needed. it's the nbdkit manual, section 1, and this particular page is all about the iso plugin. buckle up 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

nbdkit-iso-plugin — create a virtual ISO (CD-ROM) from a directory. literally that's it, that's the whole vibe 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

nbdkit iso [dir=]DIRECTORY [[dir=]DIRECTORY ...]
           [prog=mkisofs] [params='-JrT']

nbdkit iso --dump-plugin

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

nbdkit-iso-plugin is a plugin for nbdkit(1) that builds a virtual ISO (CD-ROM) image out of a directory, on the fly, like a little magic trick 🧚. the files in DIRECTORY get dropped into a virtual ISO image, and that image is served read-only over the NBD protocol. read-only, so don't come at it trying to write stuff. 🙈

under the hood this plugin calls xorriso(1), genisoimage(1) or mkisofs(1) to actually make the ISO content. peep "DUMP PLUGIN OUTPUT" below for how to find out which one 👀

quick vibe check on the siblings tho: if you want a FAT-formatted virtual floppy disk instead of a CD, that's nbdkit-floppy-plugin(1). if you want a Linux-compatible virtual disk, that's nbdkit-linuxdisk-plugin(1). different plugins, different eras. ⭐

🔥 EXAMPLE 🔥

create a virtual ISO with Joliet, Rock Ridge and TRANS.TBL extensions, from files in a directory:

nbdkit iso /path/to/directory params='-JrT'

params adds -JrT to the xorriso(1), genisoimage(1) or mkisofs(1) command line, which is what specifies those extensions. 💖

⚠️ heads up bestie: unless you use at least one of those extensions, the filenames inside your ISO will be truncated, because the basic ISO 9660 format has limitations. no cap. don't skip this. 😭

🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

  • [dir=]DIRECTORY — specify the directory that holds the files and subdirectories getting added to the virtual ISO. files inside this directory show up in the root directory of the ISO. this parameter is required and you can pass it one or more times — if you give it multiple directories, they get merged together 🫶. the dir= prefix can be omitted in most cases (see "Magic parameters" in nbdkit(1)).
  • params='parameters ...' — anything else you wanna pass through to xorriso(1), genisoimage(1) or mkisofs(1)? this is the option for that. for example:
params='-JrT -V "My Disk Image"'

would set Joliet (-J), Rock Ridge (-r) and TRANS.TBL (-T) extensions, and set the volume ID (-V) to "My Disk Image". iconic. 👑

⚠️ be careful how you quote this parameter!! nbdkit runs the resulting string through another layer of shell interpretation with zero sanity checks for unquoted shell metacharacters. that's a real warning, not a joke. 💀
  • prog=mkisofs — picks which program makes the ISO content. the default is xorriso(1), genisoimage(1) or mkisofs(1), whichever one got picked when nbdkit was compiled. you literally only need this parameter if you want to override that choice at run time. 🍓

👑 DUMP PLUGIN OUTPUT 👑

use:

nbdkit iso --dump-plugin

to find out which mkisofs-like program was used when the plugin was compiled. for example:

$ nbdkit iso --dump-plugin | grep ^iso_prog=
iso_prog=xorriso

see how it just told us? so helpful. 🧚‍♀️

🌈 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🌈

  • PATH — xorriso(1), genisoimage(1), mkisofs(1), or literally whatever you supply to the optional prog parameter, has to be available on the $PATH. it can't summon them from the void. 💅
  • TMPDIR — a temporary copy of the ISO gets created in TMPDIR. if this environment variable isn't set, then /var/tmp is used instead. there must be enough free space here to store the ISO, and ngl that ISO might be quite large. like, check your disk first large. 😭

🌸 FILES 🌸

  • $plugindir/nbdkit-iso-plugin.so — the plugin itself! to find the location of $plugindir, use nbdkit --dump-config. 🎀

⭐ VERSION ⭐

nbdkit-iso-plugin first appeared in nbdkit 1.8. vintage. ✨

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

nbdkit(1), nbdkit-plugin(3), nbdkit-file-plugin(1), nbdkit-floppy-plugin(1), nbdkit-linuxdisk-plugin(1), nbdkit-torrent-plugin(1), genisoimage(1), mkisofs(1), xorriso(1). go read them, i'll wait 🫶

🦋 AUTHORS 🦋

Richard W.M. Jones

Copyright Red Hat

📜 LICENSE 📜

redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  • redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
  • redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
  • neither the name of Red Hat nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY RED HAT AND CONTRIBUTORS ''AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

and that's the whole page bestie!! 💖 this was nbdkit version nbdkit-1.48.0, dated 2026-08-22 — so when you're citing this manual page in your group chat, now you know exactly which era you're quoting. mwah, slay, go make some ISOs 🎀✨🦋

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