Loopback to directory

Question

How do I create a loopback mount which exposes a given directory as a read-only filesystem? As contrasted with a loopback mount which exposes a file as a filesystem?

Solution

I would imagine that mount -o bind,ro /some/directory /where/you/want/it/to/be/readonly should do the trick.

Comments

[Spence]

Just be sure that you're on at least a 2.6.26 kernel or this will silently bind mount with the same options as the original mount-point. See: lwn.net/Articles/281157

[Avdi]

Works like a charm, thanks! And thanks for the caveat, Evan.

[warren]

should be able to do mount --bind -o ro, too