No loop module on VPS Linux installation

Question

I am trying to mount an ISO image file on my VPS Server hosted on LWS. the command mount -o loop myimage.iso /path/to/mountpoint return an error like mount: /path/to/mountpoint: mount failed: Erreur inconnue -1 and i was doying some research and i find out that the module loop is not loaded in the kernel of the running linux installation.

My question is : is there another alternative to mount image file on the server without the loop kernel module loaded? If not, how could i install the loop module on the running kernel?

Output of the command : uname -r 2.6.32-042stab120.5

Answer 1

I don't think you can avoid to use the loop module. Instead, perhaps you forgot the full steps:

1. modprobe loop (if module loop is not already loaded; anyway doesn't hurt)
2. losetup -f myimage.iso (the loop device must be associated to an image file)
3. losetup -a (to list loop devices)
4. mount /dev/loop0 /path/to/mountpoint (maybe loop1 instead of loop0)

Edit: there is a single line command; from the manual page of mount:

mount /tmp/disk.img /mnt -o loop

will automatically create a loop device and mount it. Even further, the -o loop can be avoided, if the filesystem type (inside the file) is specified or the mount command can infer it. So the steps 2-3-4 above can be combined in a single command.