A fuse filesystem to access the contents of iOS devices
See the codeA fuse filesystem implementation to access the contents of iOS devices.
⚠️ Version 1.2.0 has a serious bug that results in data corruption. Regression was introduced in commit 36956a and fixed in Version 1.2.1 with commit 903a29.
This project allows mounting various directories of an iOS device locally using the FUSE file system interface.
Some key features are:
You need to have a working compiler (gcc/clang) and development environent available. This project uses autotools for the build process, allowing to have common build steps across different platforms. Only the prerequisites differ and they are described in this section.
Install all required dependencies and build tools:
sudo apt-get install \
build-essential \
pkg-config \
checkinstall \
git \
autoconf \
automake \
libtool-bin \
libplist-dev \
libimobiledevice-dev \
libfuse3-dev \
usbmuxd
usbmuxd must be properly installed for ifuse to be able to
communicate with devices.
Note: On some systems, you may have to load the fuse kernel
module first and to ensure that you are a member of the fuse group:
sudo modprobe fuse
sudo adduser $USER fuse
You can check your membership of the fuse group with:
id | grep fuse && echo yes! || echo not yet...
If you have just added yourself, you will need to logout and log back in for the group change to become visible.
Make sure the Xcode command line tools are installed.
Use either MacPorts
or Homebrew to install automake, autoconf, and libtool.
Using MacPorts:
sudo port install libtool autoconf automake
Using Homebrew:
brew install libtool autoconf automake
ifuse has a few dependencies from the libimobiledevice project.
You will have to build and install the following:
Check their README.md for building and installation instructions.
Download macFUSE dmg, mount it, and double click the Install macFUSE installer.
This will also install the libfuse library and development files.
Note: For macFUSE to work, you need to allow the macFUSE system extension in Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Security. Note that changes will require a system restart.
You can build the source code from a git checkout, or from a .tar.bz2 release tarball from Releases.
Before we can build it, the source tree has to be configured for building. The steps depend on where you got the source from.
From git
If you haven't done already, clone the actual project repository and change into the directory.
git clone https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse.git
cd ifuse
Configure the source tree for building:
./autogen.sh
From release tarball (.tar.bz2)
When using an official release tarball (ifuse-x.y.z.tar.bz2)
the procedure is slightly different.
Extract the tarball:
tar xjf ifuse-x.y.z.tar.bz2
cd ifuse-x.y.z
Configure the source tree for building:
./configure
Both ./configure and ./autogen.sh (which generates and calls configure) accept a few options, for example --prefix to allow
building for a different target folder. You can simply pass them like this:
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr/local
or
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
Once the command is successful, the last few lines of output will look like this:
[...]
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: config.h is unchanged
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing libtool commands
Configuration for ifuse 1.2.0:
-------------------------------------------
Install prefix: .........: /usr/local
Now type 'make' to build ifuse 1.2.0,
and then 'make install' for installation.
If you followed all the steps successfully, and autogen.sh or configure did not print any errors,
you are ready to build the project. This is simply done with
make
If no errors are emitted you are ready for installation. Depending on whether the current user has permissions to write to the destination directory or not, you would either run
make install
OR
sudo make install
To mount the media partition from the device run:
ifuse <mountpoint>
HINT: If you mount your device as regular user, the system might complain that
the file /etc/fuse.conf is not readable. It means you do not belong to the
fuse group (see below).
To unmount as a regular user you must run:
fusermount -u <mountpoint>
By default, ifuse (via the AFC protocol) gives access to the /var/mobile/Media/
chroot on the device (containing music/pictures). This is the right and safe
way to access the device. However, if the device has been jailbroken, a full
view of the device's filesystem might be available using the following command
when mounting:
ifuse --root <mountpoint>
Note that only older jailbreak software installed the necessary AFC2 service on the device to enable root filesystem usage. For instance blackra1n does not install it and thus does not enable root filesystem access by default! Use with care as the AFC protocol was not made to access the root filesystem.
ifuse can also be used with the iTunes file/document sharing feature. It allows you to exchange files with an application on the device directly through it's documents folder by specifing the application identifier like this:
ifuse --documents <appid> <mountpoint>
The following example mounts the documents folder of the VLC app to /mnt:
ifuse --documents org.videolan.vlc-ios /mnt
It is also possible to mount the sandboxed root folder of an application
using the --container parameter:
ifuse --container <appid> <mountpoint>
The <appid> (bundle identifier) of an app can be obtained using:
ifuse --list-apps
Please consult the usage information or manual page for a full documentation of available command line options:
ifuse --help
man ifuse
We welcome contributions from anyone and are grateful for every pull request!
If you'd like to contribute, please fork the master branch, change, commit and
send a pull request for review. Once approved it can be merged into the main
code base.
If you plan to contribute larger changes or a major refactoring, please create a ticket first to discuss the idea upfront to ensure less effort for everyone.
Please make sure your contribution adheres to:
We are still working on the guidelines so bear with us!
This software is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1,
also included in the repository in the COPYING file.
Apple, iPhone, iPad, iPod, iPod Touch, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Mac, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc.
This project is an independent software application and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc.
README Updated on: 2026-04-22
1,873 followers · starred Jun 2021
51 followers · starred Aug 2016
337 followers · starred Jun 2013
207 followers · starred Dec 2023
A fuse filesystem to access the contents of iOS devices
See the codeA fuse filesystem implementation to access the contents of iOS devices.
⚠️ Version 1.2.0 has a serious bug that results in data corruption. Regression was introduced in commit 36956a and fixed in Version 1.2.1 with commit 903a29.
This project allows mounting various directories of an iOS device locally using the FUSE file system interface.
Some key features are:
You need to have a working compiler (gcc/clang) and development environent available. This project uses autotools for the build process, allowing to have common build steps across different platforms. Only the prerequisites differ and they are described in this section.
Install all required dependencies and build tools:
sudo apt-get install \
build-essential \
pkg-config \
checkinstall \
git \
autoconf \
automake \
libtool-bin \
libplist-dev \
libimobiledevice-dev \
libfuse3-dev \
usbmuxd
usbmuxd must be properly installed for ifuse to be able to
communicate with devices.
Note: On some systems, you may have to load the fuse kernel
module first and to ensure that you are a member of the fuse group:
sudo modprobe fuse
sudo adduser $USER fuse
You can check your membership of the fuse group with:
id | grep fuse && echo yes! || echo not yet...
If you have just added yourself, you will need to logout and log back in for the group change to become visible.
Make sure the Xcode command line tools are installed.
Use either MacPorts
or Homebrew to install automake, autoconf, and libtool.
Using MacPorts:
sudo port install libtool autoconf automake
Using Homebrew:
brew install libtool autoconf automake
ifuse has a few dependencies from the libimobiledevice project.
You will have to build and install the following:
Check their README.md for building and installation instructions.
Download macFUSE dmg, mount it, and double click the Install macFUSE installer.
This will also install the libfuse library and development files.
Note: For macFUSE to work, you need to allow the macFUSE system extension in Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Security. Note that changes will require a system restart.
You can build the source code from a git checkout, or from a .tar.bz2 release tarball from Releases.
Before we can build it, the source tree has to be configured for building. The steps depend on where you got the source from.
From git
If you haven't done already, clone the actual project repository and change into the directory.
git clone https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse.git
cd ifuse
Configure the source tree for building:
./autogen.sh
From release tarball (.tar.bz2)
When using an official release tarball (ifuse-x.y.z.tar.bz2)
the procedure is slightly different.
Extract the tarball:
tar xjf ifuse-x.y.z.tar.bz2
cd ifuse-x.y.z
Configure the source tree for building:
./configure
Both ./configure and ./autogen.sh (which generates and calls configure) accept a few options, for example --prefix to allow
building for a different target folder. You can simply pass them like this:
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr/local
or
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
Once the command is successful, the last few lines of output will look like this:
[...]
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: config.h is unchanged
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing libtool commands
Configuration for ifuse 1.2.0:
-------------------------------------------
Install prefix: .........: /usr/local
Now type 'make' to build ifuse 1.2.0,
and then 'make install' for installation.
If you followed all the steps successfully, and autogen.sh or configure did not print any errors,
you are ready to build the project. This is simply done with
make
If no errors are emitted you are ready for installation. Depending on whether the current user has permissions to write to the destination directory or not, you would either run
make install
OR
sudo make install
To mount the media partition from the device run:
ifuse <mountpoint>
HINT: If you mount your device as regular user, the system might complain that
the file /etc/fuse.conf is not readable. It means you do not belong to the
fuse group (see below).
To unmount as a regular user you must run:
fusermount -u <mountpoint>
By default, ifuse (via the AFC protocol) gives access to the /var/mobile/Media/
chroot on the device (containing music/pictures). This is the right and safe
way to access the device. However, if the device has been jailbroken, a full
view of the device's filesystem might be available using the following command
when mounting:
ifuse --root <mountpoint>
Note that only older jailbreak software installed the necessary AFC2 service on the device to enable root filesystem usage. For instance blackra1n does not install it and thus does not enable root filesystem access by default! Use with care as the AFC protocol was not made to access the root filesystem.
ifuse can also be used with the iTunes file/document sharing feature. It allows you to exchange files with an application on the device directly through it's documents folder by specifing the application identifier like this:
ifuse --documents <appid> <mountpoint>
The following example mounts the documents folder of the VLC app to /mnt:
ifuse --documents org.videolan.vlc-ios /mnt
It is also possible to mount the sandboxed root folder of an application
using the --container parameter:
ifuse --container <appid> <mountpoint>
The <appid> (bundle identifier) of an app can be obtained using:
ifuse --list-apps
Please consult the usage information or manual page for a full documentation of available command line options:
ifuse --help
man ifuse
We welcome contributions from anyone and are grateful for every pull request!
If you'd like to contribute, please fork the master branch, change, commit and
send a pull request for review. Once approved it can be merged into the main
code base.
If you plan to contribute larger changes or a major refactoring, please create a ticket first to discuss the idea upfront to ensure less effort for everyone.
Please make sure your contribution adheres to:
We are still working on the guidelines so bear with us!
This software is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1,
also included in the repository in the COPYING file.
Apple, iPhone, iPad, iPod, iPod Touch, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Mac, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc.
This project is an independent software application and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc.
README Updated on: 2026-04-22
1,873 followers · starred Jun 2021
51 followers · starred Aug 2016
337 followers · starred Jun 2013
207 followers · starred Dec 2023