UNetbootin

UNetbootin ("Universal Netboot Installer") is a cross-platform utility that can create live USB systems and can load a variety of system utilities or install various Linux distributions and other operating systems without a CD.

UNetbootin

UNetbootin version 702 on Void Linux
Original author(s)	Geza Kovacs
Initial release	April 2007; 18 years ago (2007-04)
Stable release	702[1]  / 4 February 2021; 4 years ago (4 February 2021)
Repository	github.com/unetbootin/unetbootin
Written in	C++ (Qt 4/5)
Operating system	Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux
Type	Live USB
License	GNU GPL version 2 or later[2]
Website	unetbootin.github.io

Modes

USB install

This installation mode creates bootable USB flash drives and bootable USB Hard Disk Drives; it is a Live USB creator.^[3]

• Cross-platform (available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X)^[3]
• Non-destructive install (does not format the device) using Syslinux.
• Supports mainstream Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, CentOS, Gentoo, Linux Mint, Arch Linux, Mandriva, MEPIS, Slackware as well as FreeDOS, FreeBSD and NetBSD.^[3]
• Can load a variety of system utilities, such as Ophcrack, BackTrack.^[3]
• Other operating systems can be loaded via pre-downloaded ISO image or floppy/hard drive disk image files.^[3]
• Automatically detects all removable devices.^[3]
• Supports LiveUSB persistence (preserving files across reboots; this feature is for Ubuntu only)

Multiple installs on the same device are not supported.

Hard drive install

This installation mode performs a network installation or "frugal install" without a CD, similar to that performed by the Win32-Loader.^[4]

UNetbootin's distinguishing features are its support for a great variety of Linux distributions, its portability, its ability to load custom disk image (including ISO image) files, and its support for both Windows and Linux.^[5] Unlike Wubi, and similar to the Win32-Loader, when installing to hard disk, UNetbootin installs to a partition, not a disk image, thus creating a dual-boot setup between Linux and Windows.^[4][6]

Reception

A review in Full Circle in February 2021 stated, "despite the rather dated-looking interface, UNetbootin works perfectly, allowing the writing of almost any Linux or BSD distribution to a USB stick for testing or installation. It is a great example of the Unix philosophy: an application that does one thing and does it well."^[7]

See also

• Free and open-source software portal

• List of tools to create Live USB systems
• Live USB
• Windows To Go