How To Create A Multiboot USB Flash Drive In Linux?
Basically, a multiboot USB flash drive allows you to carry multiple ISOs on a single USB. You can boot into any OS installation without reformatting your USB media. That means you can now carry Windows and Linux at the same time on a single USB thumb drive.
Yes, you can do that.
The only limit is your USB flash drive’s storage capacity. A larger storage size will allow you to carry more ISO files.
A multiboot USB flash drive is necessary nowadays. If you are a Linux user like me and try different Linux distributions more often, a multiboot USB will make this work very easy.
In this tutorial, I am going to show you an easy way of doing that. If any ISO does not work then you should read my blog on ‘How To Create A Bootable Flash Drive? – 2 Easy Methods‘. You can create a bootable USB Pendrive easily.
Video Tutorial
Ventoy – An Open-source Multiboot USB Creator
Ventoy is an open-source bootable USB creation tool for Linux and Windows. It allows you to boot directly into any ISO from the USB without formatting the drive over and over.
You only need to copy the ISO files into the flash drive and Ventoy will give a boot menu listing all the ISO files. Then you can select which ISO you want to boot into.
It is a very simple tool that allows you to create a multiboot USB in just one click.
Ventoy is heavily tested and supports more than 850+ image files and 90%+ distros out of the box.
Download Ventoy
You can easily download Ventoy from the GitHub page. If you are using Linux, you need to download the .tar.gz package. And if you are using Windows, you can download the Windows .zip package. You can download Ventoy from the link below.
How To Use Ventoy To Create A Multiboot USB?
In this section, I am going to show you a step-by-step guide on how you can use Ventoy to create a multiboot USB flash drive. I am using Fedora 35 for this tutorial but the process is the same across all the Linux distributions. Using the Ventoy is very easy. Follow the steps below to continue.
Step #1 – Download Ventoy
Go to the download page using the above download button. Download the right package from the GitHub page. If you are in Linux, download the Linux package. Or If you are in Windows, download the Windows package.
The current version is 1.0.74 as I am writing this tutorial. Your version may vary depending on when you are reading this post.
As I am using Fedora Linux, I am going to download the ‘ventoy-1.0.74-linux.tar.gz‘ package.
Step #2 – Extract The ‘ventoy-1.0.74-linux.tar.gz’ File
After downloading the file, open your file manager and go to the download directory. Extract the downloaded file to your desired location. In my case, I am using the same directory. But you can extract it where you want.
Step #3 – Run Ventoy
After extracting the file, open up the extracted folder and look for VentoyGUI.x86_64, if you are using a 64-bit Linux system. Or if you are using a 32-bit Linux system then you should look for the VentoyGUI.i386.
Double-click the file and you will be asked for administrative access. Enter the password and Ventoy will show up.
| Ventoy 64-bit | Ventoy 32-bit |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Step #4 – Plug-In The USB Flash Drive
Now you need to plug the USB flash drive into a USB port. Click the Reload button to search for the USB flash drive. You can see all the connected USB flash drives in the Device dropdown list. Select the proper flash drive you want to install Ventoy. Selecting the wrong drive will cause data loss. Make sure you select the right drive.
Step #5 – Select Partition Style
Select MBR (Master Boot Record) Partition Scheme for standard BIOS and GPT (GUID Partition Table) for the UEFI system. UEFI is the new standard and every modern system has it. But if you want to work on a very old system that does not support UEFI, then you need to select MBR.
Step #6 – Start Installation
After selecting the partition style, you can start the installation process by clicking the Install button.
It will then show a warning message that the device will be formatted and the data will be lost. Click OK to continue.
Ventoy shows this message twice so you need to click OK for the second time.
After clicking OK, the installation will start. Wait for the installation to be completed.
After that, Ventoy is successfully installed on the device.
Step #7 – Copy ISO Files To The USB Flash Drive
Ventoy will create two partitions in the USB flash drive. Go to the File Manager and you will see the two partitions ‘VTOYEFI‘ and ‘Ventoy‘ or only the ‘Ventoy‘ partition. It mostly depends on what type of partition style you choose.
 |
 |
Copy your ISO files and paste them onto the ‘Ventoy‘ partition. After that, you can now boot from the USB.
Step #8 – Boot From The USB
Now plug in the USB drive on your computer and boot from it. You will see the Ventoy Boot Menu showing all the ISO files in it. Select your desired ISO and press enter to initialize the boot process.
Conclusion
Ventoy is an awesome tool for creating a multiboot USB flash drive. It is easy to use and supports almost all Linux distros and Windows versions. As you have followed this tutorial, you will be able to create multiboot USB flash drives at any time. You can also use the flash drive for regular data transfer.
Older versions of different OS may need MBR partition style to properly boot from. For example, Windows 7 will not boot from a GPT-style USB flash drive. You need MBR for that. So if any ISO fails to boot, try to change the partition style first.
So if you have faced any issues or are unable to create the multiboot USB Pendrive, do not forget to comment down below. I will be very happy to help you out. And if you have any other cool tools that I should cover then don’t forget to share. Let me know in the comments. Until then, have a great day.
