How to Create Bootable Linux USB Drive from Linux Terminal

This article will help you to create bootable USB drive on Linux operating system through Linux command line. This article has been tested with Ubuntu ISO on Ubuntu 14.04 command line.

• Install Required Package – First install some required packages using following command.

  $ sudo apt-get install syslinux mtools
  

• Mount ISO – Now create mount point and mount Linux ISO image using following command.

  $ sudo mkdir /media/iso
  $ sudo mount -o loop /opt/Ubuntu.iso /media/iso
  

• Attach USB – Now attach your USB drive to your computer. Generally it mounts automatically. But in case it’s not mounted use following command to mount it.

  $ sudo mount /dev/sdc /medma/usb
  

• Copy OS Files – Now copy all files from mounted iso to USB drive.

  $ sudo cp -ra /media/iso/* /media/usb
  

• Make USB Bootable – Finally we need to make this USB bootable. Copy ldlinux.sys file to USB drive to make it bootable.

  $ sudo syslinux -s /dev/sdd1
  

  Now rename some required files and directories as like below. Navigate to USB drive

  $ cd /medma/usb
  $ mv isolinux syslinux
  $ cd syslinux
  $ mv isolinux.cfg syslinux.cfg
  

And you have all done. Your USB flash drive is ready. Now you can connect this USB to computer which you need to install Linux operating system and boot it from USB.