This site runs best with JavaScript enabled.

Right Click Folder & Create ISO in OSX

Photo by Chris Yates on Unsplash


How to set up a right-click menu option to create an ISO file from a folder.

Thanks to Matt Berther for this nice little command to create an iso image from a directory in OS X.

1hdiutil makehybrid -o ~/image.iso ~/path/to/folder -iso -joliet

Let's be honest, I'm not going to remember this command in 6 months when I need to run it again. So I created a service. I'll show you how simple it was.

Open Automator & create a new service

Automator - Service

Add the action to Run Shell Script

Run Shell Script

The service receives selected folders in Finder. Set the shell to /usr/bin/python and pass input as arguments. Add the following 3 lines of python:

1import sys
2from subprocess import call
3
4call('hdiutil makehybrid -o "{0}.iso" "{0}" -iso -joliet'.format(sys.argv[1]),
5shell=True)

Python Script

Save the service and give it a name such as "Create .iso"

Now you can right-click on a directory to create an iso image. Create .iso service

Discuss on TwitterEdit post on GitHub

Share article
Dustin Davis

Dustin Davis is a software engineer, people manager, hacker, and entreprenuer. He loves to develop systems and automation. He lives with his wife and five kids in Utah.

Join the Newsletter



Dustin Davis