Creating bootable USB for ISO images
The steps below where tested to work on Devuan 1.0.
Tools needed:
- fdisk from util-linux (tested with 2.25.2)
- mkfs.fat (tested with 3.0.27 (2014-11-12))
- syslinux (tested with 6.03)
Change /dev/sdd in the below example commands to the device name of the USB device.
Quick check: insert the USB device, execute the 'dmesg' command, and check the last lines for the /dev/sdX name (where X is the letter of the device.
Start fdisk on the USB drive:
fdisk /dev/sdd
Enter the following commands in fdisk (partial instruction):
- d to delete all partitions
- n one primary partition, using all space
- t and set it to type 'c' (w95 fat)
- a to set it bootable
- w to write changes
Format the partition as FAT32 (-F 32) and volume name USB (-n USB):
/sbin/mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n USB /dev/sdd1
“syslinux” the USB drive:
/usr/bin/syslinux /dev/sdd1
“cat” the MBR to disk:
cat /usr/lib/syslinux/mbr/mbr.bin > /dev/sdd
Mount the USB drive:
mount /dev/sdd1 /mnt
Copy memdisk, the .c32 files to the USB drive:
cp /usr/lib/syslinux/memdisk /mnt/ cp /usr/lib/syslinux/modules/bios/*.c32 /mnt/
Add the ISO file(s):
cp VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0.update02-3620759.x86_64.iso /mnt/
Create syslinux.cfg on the USB drive and fill it with:
DEFAULT menu.c32 LABEL VMware-ESXi-6.0.0.update02-3620759 KERNEL memdisk APPEND iso INITRD /VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0.update02-3620759.x86_64.iso MENU LABEL VMware-ESXi-6.0.0.update02-3620759
Add more ISO's. Copy the LABEL, KERNEL, APPEND, INITRD, and MENU LABEL to a new entry below the current one. Change LABEL and MENU LABEL to name the menu entry. Change INITRD to point to the new ISO file.
Sources: