Fedora 18
Burning ISO images to disc
How to download ISO images and create CD and DVD media
Fedora Documentation Project
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Abstract
How to download ISO images and create CD and DVD media
The Fedora Project distributes Fedora in the form of ISO image files that you can download from the Internet. You can transfer, or burn, these ISO image files to a blank CD or DVD and then use this disc to install Fedora on a computer.
This document shows you how to download these image files and burn them to a disc using a few common tools. This document assumes that you have no experience with Linux.
The Fedora Project only supports software that is part of the Fedora distribution
Other software mentioned in this article is intended to guide you in the right direction. The Fedora Project is not responsible for nor endorses those software packages, and their use is described here merely for your convenience. This is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to burning ISOs under every operating system.
Several download options for Fedora ISOs are available from
http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora, including "spins" (special versions targeted at specific audiences) and versions for different processor types. Multiple download methods are available, including direct download from an official Fedora mirror, and torrents. Torrents download data from multiple peers, but require special software (for example
transmission or
Ktorrent).
The ISO files are large, so it might take a long time to download them, especially using a dial-up modem. If you have a slow connection to the Internet, consider using a download manager. Download managers typically enable you to pause and recommence the download at convenient times and to resume a download that was interrupted.
Fedora is distributed on multiple CD-sized ISO image files, or a single DVD-sized ISO image file. You can use the single DVD ISO file if your computer meets the following requirements:
It has a DVD-writable or DVD-rewritable drive.
It has sufficient storage space available to hold the image file (approximately 3.5 GB).
It uses a file system that can store files larger than 2 GB.
To write the DVD ISO file to a disc, your computer needs to have a drive that can write to DVD media. If your computer has a drive that only writes CD media and not DVD media, download the CD-sized files instead.
A file system is a method that your computer uses to organize the files and data on its storage devices. Some file systems cannot store files larger than 2 GB, which would prevent them from storing the Fedora DVD image, which is approximately 3.5 GB. FAT32 is a file system that is still in common use on older computers and which is limited in this way. FAT32 was the default file system for computers that used the Windows 98 and Windows Me operating systems, and was also used on many computers with the Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems, although it was not the default choice.
If your computer uses Windows 98 or Windows Me, do not download the DVD image file; download the CD image files instead. If your computer uses Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you can check the format of a drive such as C:. Click the Start button and double-click My Computer. Right-click the drive you want to check, and choose Properties. The resulting dialog displays the format for that file system. Most drives on computers that use Windows 2000 or Windows XP are formatted as NTFS, a file system that can handle large files like DVD images.
Create a new directory where you can download the files that you need. You need approximately 700 MB of free space available for each CD-sized ISO file, or approximately 3.5 GB for the DVD-sized ISO file.
2.2. Choosing the ISO Files
The exact files you need from the download server depend upon your system and the version of Fedora you are downloading. The files you need are named in the form of Fedora-<version>-<arch>-disc<count>.iso, where "<version>" is the version of Fedora you wish to download, "<arch>" is your computer's processor architecture, and "<count>" is the disc number for each of the installation CDs. In the case of an installation DVD, DVD is used in the filename.
The computer processor architecture is usually i386 for 32-bit PCs, including the Pentium and Athlon processor families. The architecture is usually x86_64 for 64-bit PCs, including the Athlon 64 processor family. The architecture is usually ppc for PowerPC computers, including most of Apple's Macintosh offerings before they began using Intel chips in the MacBook. If in doubt, your system probably requires the i386 versions.
For example, if downloading Fedora 18 for a Pentium 4 computer, the correct file is Fedora-18-i386-DVD.iso. You may also need the CHECKSUM file to verify that the files you have downloaded are complete and correct.
Note that a Fedora Live CD is also available. This disc does not contain all the software packages available on the DVD or set of CDs, but does allow you to try Fedora before you install it to your computer. Refer to the article
Fedora Live Images available from
http://docs.fedoraproject.org to learn more.
Errors can occur during the download, even if your download manager reports none. Therefore it is very important to check that the files have not been corrupted in any way. This is the purpose of the CHECKSUM file. It contains one line for each of the available ISO files with a content verification code called a hash computed from the original ISO files.
BitTorrent automatically performs this error checking during downloads. If your BitTorrent application reports all files have been successfully downloaded, you can safely skip this step.
The Fedora Project and Red Hat, Inc. have no control over external sites such as the ones listed in the sections below, or the programs they provide.
3.1. Getting the CHECKSUM Files
Before getting started, it's a good time to download the checksums from
http://fedoraproject.org/verify. Click on the link that matches the ISO you have downloaded and keep it handy for the next steps.
3.2. Validating in the Windows Graphical Environment
There are a number of no-cost products available for file validation and hashing that have point and click interfaces. Here are links to a few of them:
Follow the instructions provided to install the program. When you run the program, use the file selection tools provided to select your downloaded ISO image files. Then select the SHA256 algorithm for calculation, and run the tool. The program takes some time to complete, since it must read the entire ISO file.
If you are using HashTab, you will need to enable the SHA256 checksum option. In order to do this you will to open the File Properties window (right click --> File Hashes tab --> Settings), then select the SHA256 option. It is advisable to uncheck any preselected hash options as they will only slow down the hash calculations.
Open the file CHECKSUM with a text editor, such as Notepad, to display its contents. Make sure the hash displayed by the hash tool for each of the downloaded ISO files exactly matches the corresponding hash in the CHECKSUM file.
If all of the hashes match, you can burn the ISO file to disc. If a file does not match, download it again.
3.3. Validating at the Windows Command Prompt
The sha256sum.exe program computes and displays hashes. To use it, save sha256sum.exe to the same directory as the ISO files. Select Run... from the Start menu and then enter cmd for the name of the program to start a Command Prompt window. Then change into the download directory. Run sha256sum with each ISO file like this:
cd "C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Downloads\Fedora"
sha256sum.exe Fedora-18-i386-DVD.iso
The program takes some time to complete, since it must read the entire ISO file.
Open the file CHECKSUM with a text editor, such as Notepad, to display its contents. Make sure the hash displayed by sha256sum.exe for each of the downloaded ISO files exactly matches the corresponding hash in the CHECKSUM file.
If all of the hashes match, you can burn the ISO file to disc. If a file does not match, download it again.
3.4. Validating in Mac OS X
Drag each Fedora image file that you want to validate, and drop it to HashTab. Take note of the SHA256 value that HashTab displays.
Open the file CHECKSUM with a text editor, such as TextEdit, to display its contents. Make sure the hash displayed by HashTab for each of the downloaded ISO files exactly matches the corresponding hash in the CHECKSUM file.
To validate the files from the command line, use the shasum command. In order to correctly validate the files, the 256-bit algorithm must be specified. Change into the directory that holds the ISO image files, then run shasum. For example:
cd Desktop
shasum -a 256 Fedora-18-i386-DVD.iso
If all of the hashes match, you can burn the ISO file to disc. If a file does not match, download it again.
3.5. Validating in Linux
Open a
terminal emulator:
on the GNOME desktop, click → → to open GNOME Terminal
on the KDE desktop, click → → → to open Konsole
Change into the directory that holds the ISO image files, then run sha256sum, for example:
$ cd Downloads
$ sha256sum Fedora-18-i386-DVD.iso
Open the file CHECKSUM with a text editor, such as gedit or kwrite, to display its contents. Make sure the hash displayed by sha256sum for each of the downloaded ISO files exactly matches the corresponding hash in the CHECKSUM file.
If all of the hashes match the hashes found at
http://fedoraproject.org/verify, you can burn the ISO file to disc. If a file does not match, download it again.
The process of burning ISO images to disc varies according to your operating system and the software that you have available. This section provides a guide to some popular disc burning tools.
If you are burning a set of Fedora CDs, you can test that you are burning the discs correctly and that your computer can boot from these discs as soon as you have burnt the first disc in the set. Refer to
Section 5, “Next steps” to learn how to start your computer from a Fedora disc. If you press
Enter on the Fedora boot screen, the Fedora installer will offer you a chance to test the disc. If you discover a problem with the first disc before you burn an entire set, you could save time and discs. Note that the disc test option is available when you boot from a Fedora DVD, or CDROM#1 from a Fedora CD set, but
not when you boot from a Fedora Live CD.
If you are burning CDs, the steps below will need to be repeated for each CD in the set. It may be helpful to label the CDs with the number after each one completes.
4.1. Burning discs under Windows operating systems
4.1.1. Burning discs with Windows 7
Insert a blank, writable disc.
Right-click the ISO image file and select Burn disc image.
In the Windows Disc Image Burner window, check that the correct drive is identified in the drop-down menu, then click Burn.
4.1.2. Burning discs with older Windows operating systems
The CD burning feature built into Windows XP and Windows Vista cannot burn CDs from images and Windows operating systems before Windows XP did not have any built-in CD burning capability at all. Therefore, to turn an ISO image files into a CD or DVD on Windows operating systems prior to Windows 7, you need separate disc burning software that can handle ISO image files. Although this is true of most disc burning software, exceptions exist.
Examples of popular CD burning software for Windows that you might already have on your computer include
InfraRecorder,
Nero Burning ROM, and
Roxio Creator. If you use a Windows operating system on your computer and do not have disc burning software installed (or you are not sure that the software can burn discs from image files)
InfraRecorder is a suitable solution available from
http://www.infrarecorder.org/, and is free and open-source.
The steps required to burn ISO images to disks with several popular CD burning applications are listed below.
4.1.2.1. Using InfraRecorder
Start InfraRecorder.
Select Actions.
Select Burn Image.
Choose the Fedora ISO file and select open.
Select 4X as the write speed.
Select OK.
4.1.2.2. Using The ISO Recorder V2 Power Toy
In the file manager Explorer, right click on the first Fedora ISO file.
In the context menu, select Copy image to CD.
Follow the steps given by the CD Recording Wizard pop-up.
Repeat for the remaining ISO files.
4.1.2.3. Using Roxio Easy Media Creator 7
Start Creator Classic.
Select Other Tasks.
Select Burn from Disc Image File.
Choose the Fedora ISO file and burn it.
4.1.2.4. Using Nero Burning ROM 5
Start the program.
Open the menu.
Select .
Choose the Fedora ISO file and burn it.
Repeat the above steps for each of the other ISO files.
4.1.2.5. Using Nero Express 6
Start the program.
Select Disc Image or Saved Project.
An Open dialog appears. Select the first Fedora ISO file. Click Open.
Set the writing speed for your disc recorder. The optimal setting depends on your specific hardware.
Click Next to burn.
Repeat the steps above for the other ISO files.
4.2. Burning discs under Mac OS X
Right or Control-click on the ISO file. A contextual menu appears.
Click → .
In the Disk Utility window, click the ISO file, then click the Burn icon in the toolbar. A Burn Disc In sheet slides down from the toolbar.
Insert a blank, writable disc.
Click Burn. When burning is complete, your computer ejects the now ready-to-use disc.
4.3. Burning discs under Linux
4.3.1. Burning discs on the GNOME desktop
CD/DVD Creator is disc burning software integrated with the GNOME desktop.
Right-click on the ISO image file that you downloaded and select Write to disk. The Write to Disc dialog box appears.
Click the Write button. CD/DVD Creator prompts you to insert a disc, then burns the image file to the disc.
4.3.2. Burning discs with K3b
K3b is the default disc burning software for the KDE desktop.
Click → → → to launch K3b.
Click → to burn a CD, or → to burn a DVD. The Burn CD Image or Burn Iso1660 Image to DVD dialog box appears.
Use the button beside the Image to burn box to browse to the ISO image file.
Insert a blank disc, then click the Start button. K3b burns the image file to the disc.
4.3.3. Burning discs with Brasero
Brasero is disc burning software included with many Linux distributions, on a variety of desktops.
Launch Brasero.
Click Burn image.
Click Click here to select a disc image and browse to the ISO image file you downloaded.
Insert a blank disc, then click the Burn button. Brasero burns the image file to the disc.
4.3.4. Burning discs with wodim from the command line
wodim is a command line tool that makes burning iso files to disc easy. These instructions will help you to burn a disc when a Graphical User Interface is not available.
Install wodim with the command su -c 'yum install wodim'
Locate your cdrom drives location with
wodim --devices. This should give something like the following:
[zoglesby@zlaptop ~]$ wodim --devices
wodim: Overview of accessible drives (1 found) :
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 dev='/dev/scd0' rwrw-- : 'TSSTcorp' 'DVD+-RW TS-T633C'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using the output from above identify your drive location. In this example it would be /dev/scd0, and issue the following command to burn the cd.
wodim -v dev=/dev/xxx speed=4 -eject /path/to/Fedora.iso.
Be sure to replace the dev=/dev/xxx with your drive path, and /path/to/Fedora.iso to the actual path and name of the ISO file
