Hello everybody,

I have a linux operating system stored in two files (img files). The first file is a x86 boot sector, GRand Unified Bootloader (0.94) and the the second one is squash image. My Question is how can start this operating system on a pc or separate partition or maybe as a virtual machine on vmware?

I am no expert in this arena however I have some experience with it. These .img files I assume were raw copies of another machine done using dd correct?

You can mount these images using the /dev/loop device. You can google this or even search linux forums for mounting image files with /dev/loop.

If these are straight images off another machine and they are on a separate disk you should be able to boot from them (after you lay them down again from the .img file) HOWEVER this OS in these images was configured for a specific machine. If you boot it up on a different set of hardware then a failure awaits you.

As for VM ware I am not sure about using raw images in VMware. Typically you have to install the Guest OS in the VM Server as the Server offers up its virtual components. Again the previous image was installed against another set of hardware devices.

Best of luck

How is the best way to lay the image down? mount them with the boot -loop option, and then copy them with cp to a new harddisk or partition?