prea.net

Mount a partimage file as a loopback device

Note: most (if not all) commands have to be issued as root. sudo is your friend.
Note: we're dealing with images of entire partitions. This means that you need a lot of free space on disk to work. You've been warned.

• Check whether the partimage file is compressed:
  

  file -s <image file name>

  if so, first of all gunzip it. Hereafter we assume you've an uncompressed partimage dump file.
• Create a file to receive the partimage dump. Size the file as if it were a partition, wide enough to hold the partimage dump
  check how much space you need with

  partimage imginfo <image file name>

  Then use dd to create the image file
  

  dd if=/dev/zero of=<image file name> bs=1024 count=0 seek=$[1024*1024*<size in GB>]

• Associate that file to a block device, use a free device under /dev/loop*
  

  losetup /dev/loop0 <image file name>

• Do a partimage restore
  

  partimage /dev/loop0 <partimage image file>

• Remove the file from the loopback
  

  losetup -d /dev/loop0

• Finally, mount the image file
  

  mount <image file name> <mountpoint> -o loop

• You can also mount directly the loop device:
  

  mount -t <file system type> /dev/loop/0 <mountpoint>