As Paignton Library code club is more advanced than normal code clubs, I undertook some research in to how to create multiboot USB sticks.

Problem

The average ISO file for a Linux ( or similar ) distribution is usually < 4gb, as we have USB sticks larger than 8, in fact I have a few 16 and the library just sent for some 32gb sticks, having 1 ISO per stick is rather wasteful.

Research and solution

My research led me to a tool called Ventoy this is a small, open source program that, when run, creates file system on the target USB stick to facilitate booting more than one installer.

Notes and warning

The target USB stick will however be Formatted and all data wiped as the program is windows, I used an old netbook with windows still installed to do this.

Current status

ISO files can be added / removed as required. So far I have a 16gb usb stick with :-

Debian 12 Linux mint 21.2 xfce RescaTux.

With space for more. This has also feed up some of my USB sticks.

This should be good going forward, so hopefully we can have one or two installer disks, and free up the other USB sticks for data.

The following image is from the Ventoy Boot Menu.

Tags

#Coding,#Ventoy,#Linux,#MultiBoot

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