Mount a tar file as a virtual file system

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Op 26-08-10 00:28, Peng Yu schreef:
> On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 5:06 PM, Steven Susbauer<steven at too1337.com>  wrote:
>> Jim Byrnes wrote:
>>> Nils Kassube wrote:
>>>> Peng Yu wrote:
>>>>> It seems that there are more than one way to mount a tar file (say
>>>>> .tar.bz2) as a virtual file system. Could anybody let me know what
>>>>> might be the best solution so that I can try?
>>>> Usually I just click on the icon for the archive file in my file manager
>>>> (konqueror). The archive isn't mounted though, the file manager just
>>>> looks inside the archive and displays the contents as if it was a normal
>>>> directory. But I can't tell you if that is possible with the Gnome file
>>>> manager as well.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Nils
>>>>
>>>
>>> It is possible in Gnome also by double clicking the file in Natulius.
>>
>> This really depends what OP means by mounting a tar file as a virtual
>> filesystem. Both KDE and Gnome (file-roller) do not actually mount the
>> archive as a filesystem, they simply open in the same way that Windows
>> Explorer opens a zip file.
>>
>> fuse and libarchive can mount and write to tar archives. There is a
>> howto at http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/132196 but I don't know
>> how up to date it is.
>>
>
> This option is what I am looking for. Does anybody know if the link is
> still valid today?
>
Yes, but you just need to apt-get install it. No need to compile on Ubuntu.

For a long list of known FUSE filesystems: 
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/fuse/index.php?title=FileSystems

Also good to know: when I click with the right mouse button on an 
archive in Nautilus, it gives me the option to mount the archive. It 
appears as an icon on the desktop, just like when you attach an usb 
drive. But that must be something that only works in Gnome, because it 
doesn't show up in the 'mount' command. It appears that Nautilus uses 
archive:// to access such files. That is maybe an answer for Nils and Jim.

-- 
Amedee