Creating Bootable USB Drives from ISO Files in Linux

In this article, we will discuss the process of creating the bootable USB from ISO. For quite a while USB drives became the main media for distributing the software. Lots of regular users as well as admins use USB for the installation of the software and operating systems. During the download of the Linux distro, it is the regular scenario that it will be in the ISO file so there will be a necessity to create a bootable USB drive for the installation of Linux on your machine. Except for the OS itself, we can also use it for the software installation in case it is shared as an ISO file.

In this guide, we will share the practical process of creating a bootable USB via GUI, command line, and main Linux distros.

How to Create a Bootable USB from ISO Using Linux Command Line

To start the entire process, you will need to have a USB stick and an ISO file.

• Start by plugging the USB drive and then adding the following command to the terminal. It will show the device path of the USB stick:

$ sudo fdisk -l

• The following command is needed to make the USB bootable: 

$ sudo dd bs=4M if=/pathtofile.iso of=/dev/rfg status=progress oflag=sync

Here you will need to change the path to the file by specifying where the ISO file actually is located and dev/rfg should be changed with the name of the device that you have received during the first command completion.

• After the usage of the above command, the content of the ISO file will be copied to your USB. When you see the word “copied” then the process is completed.

Creating a Bootable USB via Linux GUI

There is a diversity of available tools that can be used for the creation of the bootable USB via GUI in the Linux system. Here, we will guide you through the process with GNOME Multi Writer.

For the installation of this tool on Mint, Debian, and Ubuntu use:

$ sudo apt install gnome-multi-writer

To install the tool on Manjaro or Arch use:

$ sudo pacman -S gnome-multi-writer

For the installation on Fedora, Red Hat, AlmaLinux, and CentOS use:

$ sudo dnf install gnome-multi-writer

1. Plug in the USB and immediately open just installed tool. After that click “Start Copying”.
2. The following step is the choice of the ISO file location and its import.
3. After importing the file, the tool burns it to USB.

Final Remarks

In the guide, we have explained the entire process of creating a USB drive from ISO, this information is extremely practical right now because most machines are no longer coming with disc drives. This can be done via GUI or command line so you can select the most convenient method that works for your specific case.