DMG is a type of image file developed by Apple to distribute software for macOS. The format also serves as a way for Mac users to compress and store their files. Since macOS and Linux have some similarities under the hood, it may even be possible to mount and run some macOS apps on Linux.
If you’re using Ubuntu and you have a DMG file you want to open, the easiest way would be to convert the DMG to an ISO file. This way you can mount the file in Ubuntu just like any other ISO file.
How to convert DMG to ISO on Ubuntu
To successfully convert DMG file to ISO, we need to convert DMG to IMG file first. We’ll be using a command line tool called dmg2img.
Now that you have a mountable IMG file, we can use Brasero to convert the IMG file to an ISO. But before that, we need to first mount the img file so that Brasero can see it.
(In ((r)) After installation, open Brasero and click on Data Project. Then hit the plus icon at the top left of the window, which will open a menu where you can select your mounted file to convert. Go ahead and select that mount point folder and add where the IMG file is mounted.
Once added, hit Burn and select the directory where the output will be located. You can also rename the output via the field at the top of the window. After that, you can now hit Create Image to convert the image file to ISO.
Congratulations! You have now successfully converted DMG to ISO.
how to mount iso image on ubuntu
Since ISOs are natively supported by Ubuntu, you can easily mount one and view all of its contents.
To mount an ISO image in Ubuntu, you must first create a mount point folder to mount the image file.
How to view DMG content via P7Zip
DMGs are often compressed to save space and bandwidth. In these instances, you can easily browse through all of the DMG’s contents by simply extracting the image file. It will save your time if you only need to browse and extract the content from DMG.
To extract image files, we will be using a tool called p7zip. Although you can use and install the official 7-Zip port on Linux, we’ll be using p7zip because it’s easier to install. Both p7zip and 7-Zip Linux are ports of the popular 7-Zip software used on many Windows machines. But unlike 7-Zip, p7zip does not have a GUI and works only through a command line interface.
And how easy is it! You should now be able to browse through all the content within the DMG without the need to convert or mount the DMG.
Is it possible to install DMG software on Ubuntu?
So we have covered how to convert, mount and browse DMG in Ubuntu. This begs the question, can you run DMG applications in Ubuntu?
Since macOS and Linux both use a Bash shell and support various Unix utilities, it may be possible to run DMG applications (macOS) software on Linux.
However, there will be several major challenges, such as differences in file systems. Linux may also not have the packages and dependencies the software requires, as well as little support from developers and the community.
In addition, there are third-party applications emerging that you can use to run macOS apps on Linux. One example is Darling, an open-source program that serves as a compatibility layer for macOS apps to work on Linux. It’s like Wine, but for MacOS programs instead of Windows.
So, yes, you may be able to run an unmodified macOS app on Linux if you take the time to properly configure the DMG using a third-party application.
But the chances of running a DMG on Linux without a third-party application are slim, unless you port the software yourself.
DMG is hard to handle on Linux
Congratulations! Although it may require a little process, you now know how to mount and convert most DMG files to ISOs in Ubuntu. And if you know the DMG only contains media files, you can skip the whole mounting and converting process and just extract the contents via p7zip or 7-ZIP.
If you plan to run a macOS app packaged within a DMG without modification, you’ll need to seek out software like Darling to act as a compatibility layer. There isn’t yet a stable way to run unmodified macOS apps from within Linux, but work is underway.
Opening image files on Linux is often a straightforward process. However, DMG files are a bit more complicated because Linux natively supports these types of files as well as the formats used by them.
