DiskImageMounter is the utility that handles mounting disk image

Disk image

A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...

s in Mac OS X

Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

, starting with version 10.3

Mac OS X v10.3

Mac OS X Panther is the fourth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system. It followed Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" and preceded Mac OS X Tiger...

. Like BOMArchiveHelper

BOMArchiveHelper

Archive Utility is the default archive file handler in Mac OS X. It is usually invoked automatically when opening a file in one of its supported formats. It can be used to create compressed ZIP archives by choosing "Create archive of 'file'" in the Finder's File or contextual menu...

 it has no GUI

Graphical user interface

In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...

 when double-click

Double-click

A double-click is the act of pressing a computer mouse button twice quickly without moving the mouse. Double-clicking allows two different actions to be associated with the same mouse button...

ed; in fact, doing so does nothing. It is found in /System/Library/CoreServices/DiskImageMounter.app. DiskImageMounter works by either launching a daemon

Daemon (computer software)

In Unix and other multitasking computer operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user...

 to handle the disk image or by contacting a running dæmon and have it mount the disk. The only GUI the program ever displays is a window with a progress bar

Progress bar

A progress bar is a component in a graphical user interface used to convey the progress of a task, such as a download or file transfer. Often, the graphic is accompanied by a textual representation of the progress in a percent format....

 and mount options (cancel or skip verification) or an error report on why it could not mount the image.

Image formats supported

DiskImageMounter supports a variety of disk image file types:

• Apple Disk Image
  Apple Disk Image
  Apple Disk Image is a proprietary disk image format commonly used with the Mac OS X operating system. The format allows secure password protection as well as file compression and hence serves both security and file distribution functions; it is most commonly used to distribute software over the...
  
   (.dmg, com.apple.disk-image)
• UDIF disk images (.udif, com.apple.disk-image-udif); UDIF segment (.devs, .dmgpart, com.apple.disk-image-udif-segment)
• NDIF disk image (.ndif, .img, com.apple.disk-image-ndif); NDIF disk image segment (.imgpart, com.apple.disk-image-ndif-segment)
• self mounting image
  Self mounting image
  A self mounting image is a disk image format, commonly found on the Macintosh Classic platform, that is encapsulated in an application that mounts it as a file system. When downloaded from the Internet, they are often in a BIN, BinHex or StuffIt file. Despite being an application, they often have a...
  
   (.smi, com.apple.disk-image-smi)
• DVD/CD-R master image (.toast, .dvdr, .cdr, com.apple.disk-image-cdr, com.roxio.disk-image-toast)
• disk image segment (dmgpart)
• Disk Copy
  Disk Copy
  Disk Copy was the default utility for handling disk images in System 7 through Mac OS X 10.2 . In later versions of Mac OS X it has been replaced by DiskImageMounter for mounting the images and Disk Utility for creating them.Although the last official public release of Disk Copy for Mac OS 9 was...
  
   4.2 disk image (.dc42, .diskcopy42, com.apple.disk-image-dc42)
• DART
  Dart
  -Dart:In popular culture* Dart , an Image Comics superhero* Dart Feld, the central character of the PlayStation RPG, The Legend of Dragoon* Wraith dart, an attack spacecraft on Stargate Atlantis....
  
  disk image (.dart, com.apple.disk-image-dart)
• raw disk image (OSType
  OSType
  OSType is the name of a four-byte sequence commonly used as an identifier in Mac OS. While the bytes can have any value, they usually display figures characterized in software programs such as those utilized in ASCII or Mac OS Roman character sets.OSType values are used to identify file data...
  
  s: devr, hdrv, DDim, com.apple.disk-image-raw)
• PC drive container (OSType
  OSType
  OSType is the name of a four-byte sequence commonly used as an identifier in Mac OS. While the bytes can have any value, they usually display figures characterized in software programs such as those utilized in ASCII or Mac OS Roman character sets.OSType values are used to identify file data...
  
  s: OPCD, com.apple.disk-image-pc)
• ISO image
  ISO image
  An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
  
   (.iso, public.iso-image)
• sparse disk image (.sparseimage, com.apple.disk-image-sparse, .sparsebundle)

See also

• Disk Copy
  Disk Copy
  Disk Copy was the default utility for handling disk images in System 7 through Mac OS X 10.2 . In later versions of Mac OS X it has been replaced by DiskImageMounter for mounting the images and Disk Utility for creating them.Although the last official public release of Disk Copy for Mac OS 9 was...
  
  , this program's predecessor.