How to mount a qcow2 disk image

This is a quick guide to mounting a qcow2 disk images on your host server. This is useful to reset passwords, edit files, or recover something without the virtual machine running.

Step 1 - Enable NBD on the Host

modprobe nbd max_part=8

Step 2 - Connect the QCOW2 as network block device

qemu-nbd --connect=/dev/nbd0 /var/lib/vz/images/100/vm-100-disk-1.qcow2

Step 3 - Find The Virtual Machine Partitions

fdisk /dev/nbd0 -l

Step 4 - Rescan partition table

partprobe /dev/nbd0

Step 5 - Mount the partition from the VM

mount /dev/nbd0p1 /mnt/somepoint/

Step 6 - After you done, unmount and disconnect

umount /mnt/somepoint/
qemu-nbd --disconnect /dev/nbd0
rmmod nbd