Want to create a bootable USB drive using ISO files on Linux? Etcher is here to help you.

Startup disk (or bootable drive) is an important tool for troubleshooting system problems on any operating system. They allow you to temporarily access the file system of the damaged computer and repair the problem that caused the failure.

In addition, the bootable drive can also be used as a real-time USB drive, facilitating access to your system from any device and any place. To create a bootable drive, you need to use an image flash utility to flash the image file onto a removable device.

If you are using Linux, you can use Etcher to create a bootable drive. This is a guide to help you complete the process.

Etcher, also known as balenaEtcher, is a program used to write image files to storage devices, such as U disks and SD cards. It is free to use and available on all major platforms: Linux, macOS and Windows.

With Etcher, you will get a very intuitive graphical user interface (GUI): easy to navigate and easy to use. To use it to create a bootable drive, you only need to perform a few simple steps, and it will be responsible for flashing the image file to the storage medium of your choice.

One aspect that distinguishes Etcher from some other image flashing utilities is its ability to verify removable devices before starting the flashing process. Therefore, if you accidentally insert a defective SD card or flash drive, the software will notify you of the same situation instead of flashing the image file to the damaged drive, making you wonder why your boot drive is not working.

Before you start using Etcher, you first need to install it and set it up on your computer. There are two ways to solve this problem: You can download the Etcher AppImage from Balena's official website or install the software directly through the command line.

The easiest way to run Etcher on a Linux system is to download the AppImage file.

After downloading, please follow the steps below to start:

Alternatively, you can also use the chmod command to assign executable permissions to the file.

Make sure to provide the exact name of the AppImage file in the above command.

If the above method does not work and you cannot run Etcher from its AppImage, use the package manager to install it via the command line.

But first, you must use cURL to add the Etcher repository to your system. If you are using a Debian-based distribution, such as Ubuntu, issue the following command:

Use APT to install Etcher on Debian/Ubuntu:

On RHEL-based distributions such as CentOS and Fedora, add the Etcher RPM repository:

Then use the DNF package manager to install the package:

You can also use yum instead of DNF:

Since Etcher is available in Arch User Repository, you can install it directly with yay:

Using Etcher to flash an image file to a removable device involves three steps. However, before you start, you need to resolve some prerequisites.

First, you must back up all the data of the storage device on which you want to flash the image. This is to prevent data loss on the drive, as Etcher will format everything on the image while it is flashing.

Second, you need to download the image file that you want to flash to a USB drive or SD card to your computer.

Although Etcher does allow you to import image files using its URL, the process is not very reliable and can cause errors in some cases. Therefore, we recommend downloading the image to your local computer beforehand, and then using it with Etcher.

Etcher supports three image formats: ISO, IMG and ZIP. Therefore, please make sure that the image file you download is in any of these file formats.

When everything is ready, connect the storage device to your computer and start Etcher. Follow the steps below to flash image files to your storage device.

Depending on the size of the image file you choose, it will take a while for Etcher to flash the file to the storage device of your choice and verify the image you have flashed. So please sit down and wait for the process to complete. When finished, you should see a message on Etcher that says Flash Complete.

If you want to refresh images on multiple devices at once, you can use Etcher to do so. To do this, first, connect the storage device to the computer on which the image file is to be flashed. Then, in the Select target window of Etcher, check the check box of the drive you just connected.

Using the above steps, you should be able to use Etcher to create a bootable USB drive or SD card with just a few clicks.

Although you can use almost any other image flashing utility to accomplish this, Etcher has the upper hand in most image flashing utilities, thanks to its beautiful, user-friendly interface and relatively fast flashing process, which makes The whole task is seamless and convenient.

In fact, Etcher is not only available for Linux, you can also use it to install the operating system on the Raspberry Pi.

Learn how to install the operating system on the Raspberry Pi and even how to clone your settings for fast disaster recovery.

Yash is a full-time writer on DIY, Linux, programming and security at MUO. Before finding his passion for writing, he developed for the Web and iOS. You can also find his article on TechPP, which covers other verticals. In addition to technology, he also likes to talk about astronomy, Formula One racing and watches.

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