QCOWMOUNT(1) General Commands Manual QCOWMOUNT(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

`qcowmount` — mounts a QEMU Copy-On-Write (QCOW) image file

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

`qcowmount` \[`-k` `keys`] \[`-p` `password`] \[`-X` `extended_options`] \[`-hvV`] `source` `mount_point`

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

`qcowmount` is a utility to mount a QEMU Copy-On-Write (QCOW) image file

`qcowmount` is part of the `libqcow` package. `libqcow` is a library to access the QEMU Copy-On-Write (QCOW) image file format

`source` a QEMU Copy-On-Write (QCOW) image file `mount_point` the directory to serve as mount point

The options are as follows:

[`-h`](#h)

shows this help

[`-k`](#k) `keys`

specify the keys formatted in base16

[`-p`](#p) `password`

specify the password (or passphrase)

[`-v`](#v)

verbose output to stderr, while qcowmount will remain running in the foreground

[`-V`](#V)

print version

[`-X`](#X) `extended_options`

extended options to pass to sub system

# [ENVIRONMENT](#ENVIRONMENT)

None

# [FILES](#FILES)

None

# [EXAMPLES](#EXAMPLES)

```
# qcowmount image1.qcow2 /mnt/qcow
qcowmount 20260626

```

# [DIAGNOSTICS](#DIAGNOSTICS)

Errors, verbose and debug output are printed to stderr when verbose output -v is enabled. Verbose and debug output are only printed when enabled at compilation.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[qcowinfo(1)](/man/os/libqcow/qcowinfo.1)

# [AUTHORS](#AUTHORS)

Joachim Metz <joachim.metz@gmail.com>

# [BUGS](#BUGS)

Please report bugs of any kind on the project issue tracker: https://github.com/libyal/libqcow/issues

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

Copyright (C) 2010-2026, Joachim Metz <joachim.metz@gmail.com>.

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

July 3, 2026 Linux 4.19.0-gvisor

---

Document: qcowmount(1) from libqcow 20260703-r3 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/libyal/libqcow