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Create a Ventoy USB drive on Linux

Download, verify, and install Ventoy on a USB drive from Linux. Supports BIOS and UEFI. Drop ISOs directly onto the drive — no re-flashing needed between images.

Distrosubuntu, debian, fedora, opensuse, arch
Shellbash
Updated
Script
bash
# 1. Find your USB drive device path — VERIFY before proceeding
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,TRAN,MOUNTPOINTS

# 2. Set the version (check https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/releases for latest)
VENTOY_VER="1.0.99"

# 3. Download and verify
wget "https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/releases/download/v${VENTOY_VER}/ventoy-${VENTOY_VER}-linux.tar.gz"
wget "https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/releases/download/v${VENTOY_VER}/ventoy-${VENTOY_VER}-linux.tar.gz.sha256"
sha256sum -c "ventoy-${VENTOY_VER}-linux.tar.gz.sha256"

# 4. Extract
tar -xzf "ventoy-${VENTOY_VER}-linux.tar.gz"
cd "ventoy-${VENTOY_VER}"

# 5. Install to USB — REPLACE /dev/sdX WITH YOUR DRIVE (e.g. /dev/sdb)
#    WARNING: This ERASES all data on the target drive.
sudo sh Ventoy2Disk.sh -i /dev/sdX

What this does

Installs Ventoy onto a USB drive, creating two partitions:

  • A small FAT16 boot partition with the Ventoy bootloader
  • A large ExFAT data partition where you drop ISO files

After installation you copy any number of ISOs directly to the drive. Ventoy presents a boot menu at startup — no re-flashing required when you add or swap images.

Why this approach

Every homelab operator ends up needing to reinstall or recover systems eventually — a failed Proxmox upgrade, a corrupted boot disk, a new node that needs OS installation. The traditional approach is a single-purpose USB drive: download one ISO, flash it with Etcher or dd, boot from it, and then repeat for the next OS you need. With Ventoy you do the flash once, and the drive holds as many ISOs as will fit — Ubuntu installer, Proxmox VE, SystemRescue, Windows PE — selectable from a menu at boot without any re-flashing.

The practical impact is significant for a homelab context. Instead of keeping a drawer of labeled USB drives or reflashing the same drive every time you need a different OS, you keep one Ventoy drive with your whole toolkit on it. The ExFAT data partition is recognized by Windows, macOS, and Linux, so copying a new ISO onto the drive from any machine is just a file copy — no special software needed once Ventoy is installed.

The device identification step (lsblk) is the most important safety check in this playbook. ventoy2disk.sh installs to whatever device you specify, destructively overwriting the partition table. On a system with multiple storage devices, a mistake in identifying /dev/sdb vs /dev/sdc vs /dev/nvme0n1 can destroy the wrong drive. Always run lsblk with the USB disconnected, then with it connected, and confirm the new device that appeared is the USB before proceeding.

Prerequisites

  • A USB drive (8 GB minimum; 32 GB+ recommended)
  • wget installed (sudo apt install wget / sudo dnf install wget)
  • Root or sudo access

Critical: identify the correct device

Run lsblk and confirm the device path of your USB drive before proceeding. Writing to the wrong device will silently destroy data on that disk.

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,TRAN,MOUNTPOINTS

Look for a disk with usb in the TRAN column and a size matching your drive. Common paths: /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc. Never use /dev/sda — that is almost always your system disk.

GUI option

If you prefer a graphical interface, Ventoy ships VentoyGUI.x86_64 (or aarch64) in the same archive:

cd ventoy-1.0.99
sudo ./VentoyGUI.x86_64

Updating an existing Ventoy drive

If Ventoy is already installed and you want to update the bootloader without losing your ISOs:

sudo sh Ventoy2Disk.sh -u /dev/sdX

The -u flag upgrades only the boot partition. Your data partition and all ISOs are untouched.

Secure Boot

Ventoy supports Secure Boot via MOK enrollment. During first boot from the Ventoy drive, select Enroll Key and follow the prompts. On subsequent boots Secure Boot will trust the Ventoy loader.

Adding ISOs

Once installed, mount the data partition and copy ISOs directly:

# The ExFAT partition appears automatically on most desktops
# Or mount manually:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/ventoy
sudo mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt/ventoy
cp ~/Downloads/ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso /mnt/ventoy/
sudo umount /mnt/ventoy

Ventoy scans all subdirectories — you can organise ISOs into folders (/mnt/ventoy/linux/, /mnt/ventoy/windows/, etc.).

Notes

  • Ventoy supports ISO, WIM, IMG, VHD(x), and EFI files
  • The SHA256 checksum is published alongside each release on GitHub — always verify before installing
  • Source code: github.com/ventoy/Ventoy (open source, Apache 2.0)
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