In Ubuntu we can easily create an ISO disc image of any CD/DVD thanks to the Brasero optical disc burning utility. But what if all you have is nothing but folders and files and wondering an easy way to create an ISO disc image containing them?
There is a script called “ISO Creator” and as long as you use Nautilus this script will let you just right click on any folder or a file and create an ISO disc image file with ease!.
The script is actually nothing but a front-end that uses the built in optical disc image handling utilities (mkisofs & genisoimage) that comes with most GNU/Linux distributions. But those utilities are command-line ones (yikes!) so this script just makes your life a hell lot easier ;-).
Installing instructions…
1. First get the archive file from this official ISO Creator page. Now I don’t know why (this happens with some Nautilus scripts) but when you click the “download” button on that page it actually opens the shell script in your Web browser.
2. If this happens to you too, then simply press “Ctrl” + “A” and copy the content of that opened file (as with below screenshot) and paste it into a new text file using the Gedit text editor in Ubuntu.
3. Now from the menu click on “save-as” and give any name you want but for this example I’ll call it “Create the Bloody ISO” :D.
4. Now, open your “Home” folder and press “Ctrl” + “H” keys to make Nautilus show hidden files and folders. Then go to: “.gnome2” -> “nautilus-scripts” and simply paste the saved text file into the folder.
5. Now right click on that text file and click on “Properties” and under “Permissions” tab make sure to put a check mark on “Execute” under the “Owner” sub heading. You must do this otherwise the script won’t work.
That’s it. Now right-click on any file or a folder in Nautilus file manager and choose “Scripts” -> “Create the Bloody ISO” (or the name that you gave) and it’ll create an ISO disc image which you can burn into a CD/DVD as easy as double clicking on it later. Enjoy!.
