Introduction

For an introductory explanation of ISO images and burning them see IsoImage.This page details how to create an ISO (.iso) file from a CD or DVD.

Why would I want to do this?

Iso images are useful because they are always available quickly. Two common uses of iso images are:

1. Creating images of discs that you copy frequently. This means that you can make copies in the future without the source disc - see BurningIsoHowto.

2. Creating images of discs you use frequently so that you do not have to have the disc in the drive to access them - see MountIso.

Creating an iso image from a non-music CD or DVD

GUI (Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS, Focal Fossa)

1. Insert the CD or DVD.
2. Wait for the disk icon to display in the Dock. Your CD or DVD has now been mounted and can be read by Ubuntu.
3. Click the "Show Applications" icon in the Dock to display a Search box.
4. In the Search box, type "disks", then click the Disks application to open it.
5. In Disks, click the "CD/DVD Drive" entry on the left to display the CD or DVD volume. (Don't touch anything else in Disks unless you know what you're doing.)

6. Click the menu icon in the top-right, then click "Create Disk Image..." to display the Create Disk Image dialog, as shown in this screenshot: create-file-rename.png

7. Enter a name for the .iso file and choose where you want to save the file.
8. Click "Start Creating..." to start creating the .iso image of the CD or DVD. Then wait until the progress indicator in Disks shows that the image creation is completed.

You can check your new .iso file by double-clicking it to mount it, then browsing it as you would if it were a CD or DVD.

Command line

dd if=/dev/cdrom of=file.iso (assuming /dev/cdrom is where the CD is mounted, and file.iso is the name you want to give the ISO, in the current directory)

Creating an iso image from a music CD or DVD

1. Insert the CD or DVD.
2. Wait for Sound Juicer to pop-up with the songs on the disc
3. Close Sound Juicer

4. Click "Places" > "Computer" (the menu at the top of your screen)

5. Right-click the icon of the CD
6. Select "Copy Disc..."
7. Alongside "Copy disc to:", change the drop-down to read "File image"
8. Click "Write"
9. Choose where you want to save the file
10. Click OK

The icon of the CD can also be found on the Desktop after the disc has been inserted. This icon can also be used for steps 5 - 10.

Listening the audio tracks of an iso image from a music CD

To be completed.