5.2. Making Fedora USB Media in UNIX, Linux, and Similar Operating Systems

⁠5.2. Making Fedora USB Media in UNIX, Linux, and Similar Operating Systems

A graphical tool is available to create Fedora USB media on systems that run Fedora or operating systems derived from Fedora. To create Fedora USB media on other UNIX or Linux operating systems (including Mac OS X), use the command-line method described in Section 5.2.1.3, “Making Fedora USB Media with dd”.

⁠5.2.1. Creating Fedora USB Media in Fedora and similar Linux distributions

Graphical and command-line tools are available to create Fedora USB media on computers that run Fedora and Linux distributions derived from Fedora. The command line tools work with both Fedora DVD and live images, but the graphical tool works only with live images. To create Fedora USB media from the distribution image or minimal boot media image, use one of the command line methods described in Section 5.2.1.2, “Making Fedora USB Media with livecd-tools” and Section 5.2.1.3, “Making Fedora USB Media with dd”.

⁠5.2.1.1. Making Fedora USB Media with a graphical tool

Important — Enable Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux

To perform this procedure on Linux distributions derived from Fedora, enable the Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) repository. Refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL/FAQ#howtouse for instructions.

Note — This Method Is Not Destructive

This method is not destructive, so existing data on the media is not harmed. Nevertheless, it is always a good idea to back up important data before performing sensitive disk operations.

Install the liveusb-creator on your system with your graphical package manager, or the following command:
```
su -c 'yum -y install liveusb-creator'
```
Plug in your USB media.
Launch LiveUSB Creator, either from a menu or by entering liveusb-creator on the command line. Enter the root password for your system when LiveUSB Creator prompts you for it.
LiveUSB Creator can create live USB media either from an image file that you downloaded previously, as described in Section 2.2, “Choosing the ISO Files”, or it can download an image file from the Internet. Either:
- click the Browse button under the Use existing LiveCD label, browse to the location where you previously downloaded a Fedora Live ISO file, and select that file.
- select a Fedora Live ISO file from the drop-down menu that LiveUSB Creator presents under the Download Fedora label. Note that image files are large and that it is probably impractical to use LiveUSB Creator to download an image file if you do not have a broadband connection to the Internet.
Click Create Live USB.

⁠5.2.1.2. Making Fedora USB Media with livecd-tools

Important — Enable Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux

Note — This Method Is Not Destructive

This method is not destructive, so existing data on the media is not harmed. Nevertheless, it is always a good idea to back up important data before performing sensitive disk operations.

Install the livecd-tools package on your system with your graphical package manager, or the following command:
```
su -c 'yum -y install livecd-tools'
```
Plug in your USB media.
Find the device name for your USB media. If the media has a volume name, use it to look up the device name in /dev/disk/by-label, or use the findfs:
```
su -c 'findfs LABEL="MyLabel"'
```
If the media does not have a volume name, or you do not know it, consult the /var/log/messages log for details:
```
su -c 'less /var/log/messages'
```
Use the livecd-iso-to-disk command to write the ISO image to the media:
```
su -c 'livecd-iso-to-disk the_image.iso /dev/sdX1'
```
Replace sdX1 with the device name for the partition on the USB media. Most flash drives and external hard disks use only one partition. If you have changed this behavior or have oddly partitioned media, you may need to consult other sources of help.

⁠5.2.1.3. Making Fedora USB Media with dd

Warning — These instructions could destroy data

When you perform this procedure any data on the USB flash drive is destroyed with no warning. Make sure that you specify the correct USB flash drive, and make sure that this flash drive does not contain any data that you want to keep.

Note

The Fedora Project recommends using livecd-tools rather than dd for creating USB media whenever possible.

Plug in your USB flash drive.
Become root:
```
su -
```

Because your flash drive will be completely overwritten by this procedure, it is important to specify the correct drive. Run the command dmesg shortly after connecting the drive. The output will identify the device node of the drive, in this case /dev/sdd:

          [36255.217474] usb 2-1.7: Manufacturer: Kingston
          [36255.217476] usb 2-1.7: SerialNumber: 0019E06B0848SK88050A1E7C
          [36255.218125] usb-storage 2-1.7:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
          [36255.218188] scsi7 : usb-storage 2-1.7:1.0
          [36256.221078] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Kingston DT 101 II        1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
          [36256.221399] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
          [36256.222051] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdd] 3930112 512-byte logical blocks: (2.01 GB/1.87 GiB)
          [36256.222815] [sdd]d 7:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
          [36256.222818] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 22 00 00 00
          [36256.223547] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdd] No Caching mode page found
          [36256.223550] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
          [36256.226945] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdd] No Caching mode page found
          [36256.226947] sd 7:0:0:0: [sddsdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
          [36256.483172]  sdd: sdd1

The device name (similar to /dev/sdd) and the partition name (similar to /dev/sdd1) both appear in several lines towards the end of the output. You will use the device name, the procedure will be creating a new partition.

Use the dd command to transfer the boot ISO image to the USB device:
```
# dd if=path/image_name.iso of=device
```
where path/image_name.iso is the boot ISO image file that you downloaded and device is the device name for the USB flash drive. Ensure you specify the device name, not the partition name. For example:
```
# dd if=~/Download/Fedora-19-x86_64-DVD.iso of=/dev/sdc
```