Create a USB key on Linux

This page shows you how to create a new USB key on a linux system from an image file that has been downloaded from MNX.

• Insert your USB key in the USB port. Note: All data on the USB key will be replaced. 

• Find the USB key's disk identifier using fdisk(8)

  $ sudo fdisk -l
  255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
  Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
  Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  Disk identifier: 0x7ecb51e2
  
  Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
  /dev/sda1   *           1          52      409600   27  Unknown
  Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
  /dev/sda2              52       18959   151870464    7  HPFS/NTFS
  /dev/sda3           18959       30432    92158977    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
  /dev/sda4           30432       60802   243944472    7  HPFS/NTFS
  /dev/sda5           18959       30432    92158976   83  Linux
  
  Disk /dev/sdb: 7958 MB, 7958691840 bytes
  255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 967 cylinders
  Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
  Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
  Disk identifier: 0x00000000
  
  Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
  /dev/sdb1               1         243     1951866    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

• In this case, the USB key disk identifier is /dev/sdb. Note: Your device location may be different.

• Copy the image to the USB key

  $ tar -xvzf usb-*.tgz usb-*.img
  $ sudo dd if=usb-*.img of=/dev/sdb bs=1M

  • Note: Be sure to double check the disk identifier. The dd(1) command will destroy any existing data on the target disk.  

• This process will take between 5 to 20 minutes.

• Your USB key now contains the Triton boot image.