How To Boot An Os From A Usb

How to boot from a USB Flash Drive in VirtualBox. This process will allow you to run your Portable Linux from the USB Flash Drive or external hard drive while still running from a Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X Host. By default VirtualBox does not support USB Boot. However, this is easily attainable by mapping a virtual machine (.vmdk file) to the USB Drive.

VirtualBox Website: https://www.virtualbox.org

Feb 20, 2019 I need to install an operating system onto a Hyper-V virtual machine via a bootable USB flash drive. I am not using an ISO file. It has to be from this bootable USB flash. Jun 14, 2020 CD/DVD drives are disappearing from computers, leaving USB storage as the only option when re-installing an operating system. The process is fairly painless and, if you have a bit of time and patience you can complete the task on a Mac. When you're troubleshooting your computer or installing a new operating system, you may need to 'boot from a disc' or USB device (like an external hard drive or flash drive).

Boot a USB Flash Drive from VirtualBox (Windows Host)

1. Download and run VirtualBox (Installing to the default path).
2. You'll need to use the command line to perform steps 3-6,
   To open a command prompt;
   1.) From the Windows '⌕ Type here to search' box, type cmd.exe
   2.) Then click Run as administrator
   
3. At the command prompt, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter to open the Windows Disk Management Tool.
   

   diskmgmt.msc

   Then, Identify your USB Disk #
   

4. Now, back at the command line, type
   

   cd %programfiles%oraclevirtualbox

5. Replacing # with your USB Disk number from step 3, type
   

   VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename '%USERPROFILE%'.VirtualBoxusb.vmdk -rawdisk .PhysicalDrive#


6. To start VirtualBox as Admin, type
   

   start virtualbox

7. Click New, and then proceed to Create a New Virtual Machine.
   
8. When prompted for a Virtual Hard Disk, tick use existing hard disk. Then, browse to your %USERPROFILE%.VirtualBox folder, and select the usb.vmdk file.
   
9. Once done creating your New Virtual Machine, click Start.
   

If all goes well, VirtualBox should now be emulating, booting, and running your USB device from within Windows.

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Getting Persistence to work in VirtualBox (Windows)

At first the USB flash drive might not work exactly like it does when booted natively. Things like Ubuntu's casper persistent feature won't work. Some distributions might not even boot, or will boot with errors. This is because the volumes on the device are mounted by Windows, preventing VirtualBox from gaining full access. In order to fix these issues, you can use a tool called LockDismount. Then simply run the tool (using the following steps), prior to starting the Virtual Machine that is tied to your USB.

1. Download the LockDismount tool

2. Launch the tool right before starting your VirtualBox VM

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3. Select your USB from the drop-list, then Press Lock it!

(optionally you can check Force Dismount)

Now your flash drive should be able to boot in VirtualBox exactly as it does when booted natively on a physical machine. 😉

Boot from a USB Flash Drive in VirtualBox (Linux Host)

The following was performed from a running Ubuntu Operating environment. The same should work for most Debian/Ubuntu Linux based environments.

1. Open a Terminal and type sudo apt install virtualbox
   

   sudo apt install virtualbox

2. Next, Type sudo fdisk -l
   

   sudo fdisk -l

   (note which device is your USB drive I.E. /dev/sdx)
   

3. Replacing x with your actual device letter found from step 2, type
   

   sudo vboxmanage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename ~/usb.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sdx

4. Type sudo virtualbox to start the program, and proceed create a New Virtual Machine.
   
5. When prompted for a Virtual Hard Disk, tick use existing hard disk, then browse to your Home directory and select usb.vmdk.
6. Once you've finished creating your New Virtual Machine, click Start.
   

If all went smoothly, you should now be running your USB flash drive from VirtualBox on the Linux Host.

Boot from a USB Flash Drive in VirtualBox (Mac OS X)

Boot From USB Drive On Windows 10 PC | Tutorials

1. Download and install VirtualBox for OS X Hosts via the .dmg file.
2. Open a Terminal and type diskutil list
   

   diskutil list

   (make note of which disk is your USB drive I.E. /dev/disk#)

3. Replacing # with the disk number of your USB drive, type
   

   diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk#

4. Again, replacing # with your actual disk number, type
   

   vboxmanage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename ~/usb.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/disk#

5. Once more, replacing # with the disk number, type
   

   diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk#

6. Finally, to start the program with root access, type
   

   sudo virtualbox

7. Next, Proceed to create a New Virtual Machine.
   When prompted for a Virtual Hard Disk, tick use existing hard disk.
   Then, browse to your Home directory and select usb.vmdk.
   
8. Once finished creating your New Virtual Machine, click Start.
   

You should now be booting from your USB flash drive on the Mac OS X host using VirtualBox, while retaining the ability to boot from the drive natively as well.

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How to Boot From a USB Flash Drive in VirtualBox published under USB Virtual Machine Emulation