Raw VM Image Mounting with losetup

May 17, 2026 · 10:00 AM UTC ·2 min read · 0 reactions · 0 comments · 34 views

#linux #sysadmin #virtualization #filesystem #qemu

TL;DR · WeSearch summary

The article explains how to mount a raw virtual machine disk image on a Linux host using the losetup command. It outlines the steps to attach the image to a loop device, access its partitions, and mount them for inspection or backup. The process concludes with unmounting and detaching the image, with a note that it only works for raw images, not formats like qcow2.

Key facts

▪The losetup command is used on Linux to attach a raw VM image to a loop device.
▪The -P flag reloads the partition table, allowing access to individual partitions within the image.
▪If the image uses LVM, the lvscan command can detect and activate logical volumes.
▪After use, the image should be unmounted and detached from the loop device using losetup --detach.
▪This method only works with raw images; qcow2 images require conversion or special tools.
▪Raw VM Image Mounting with losetup

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Original publisher	DEV.to (Top)
Canonical URL	https://dev.to/niamtokik/raw-vm-image-mounting-with-losetup-2gl5
Publication time	Sun, 17 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000
Retrieval time	2026-05-17T10:22:13.044Z
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand

try { if(localStorage) { let currentUser = localStorage.getItem('current_user'); if (currentUser) { currentUser = JSON.parse(currentUser); if (currentUser.id === 1302415) { document.getElementById('article-show-container').classList.add('current-user-is-article-author'); } } } } catch (e) { console.error(e); } Mathieu K Posted on May 17 Raw VM Image Mounting with losetup #linux #qemu #filesystem #sysadmin I use Qemu/KVM for most of my custom virtual machine, and sometime, I need to do some backup or to check the filesystem from the host point of view. The process is quite simple, the virtual disk is used as a virtual storage device and then we mount the partition on the host. On FreeBSD, we use mdconfig, on OpenBSD we use vmconfig and on Linux, we are using losetup.

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