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ifuse

A fuse filesystem implementation to access the contents of iOS devices.

Features

This project allows mounting various directories of an iOS device locally using the FUSE file system interface.

Some key features are:

Media: Mount media directory of an iOS device locally
Apps: Mount sandbox container or document directory of an app
Jailbreak: Mount root filesystem on jailbroken devices (requires AFC2 service)
Browse: Allows to retrieve a list of installed file-sharing enabled apps
Implementation: Uses libimobiledevice for communication with the device

Installation / Getting started

Debian / Ubuntu Linux

First 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

Then clone the actual project repository:

git clone https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse.git
cd ifuse

Now you can build and install it:

./autogen.sh
make
sudo make install

Setting up FUSE

Note that 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.

Usage

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/root/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.

If using libimobiledevice >= 1.1.0, 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

Contributing

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:

Try to follow the code style of the project
Commit messages should describe the change well without being too short
Try to split larger changes into individual commits of a common domain
Use your real name and a valid email address for your commits

We are still working on the guidelines so bear with us!

License

This software is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1, also included in the repository in the COPYING file.

Credits

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: 2024-11-15