Documentation

Create the live usb version from Windows 1st method

Advantage

  • The key can boot into BIOS and UEFI.
  • You can use the remaining space to store data on your key.
  • Just use Rufus.
  • By copying ISO/IMG/WIM files to the FAT32 partition, they can be launched from Grub2 File Manager.
  • By copying Porteus modules (.xzm file) to the FAT32 partition, they can be activated with a double-click from Porteus.
  • You can personalize Ikki Boot

Disadvantage

  • As the key is in FAT32, the maximum file size that can be stored is 4 GB.

Download Ikki_Boot.iso https://ikkiboot.tuxfamily.org/en/download.html

Download the portable version of Rufus https://rufus.ie

Plug in your USB flash drive

Be careful, all the content of the key will be DELETED Make a BACKUP of your USB flash drive before

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Run Rufus :

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Click on Select and select the ISO file :

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Click on Start :

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Click on "Write in ISO mode" and Ok :

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Click on Yes :

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Click on Ok :

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Click on Ok if the message below appears :

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Copying is performed :

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Click on close to finalize the procedure :

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You can now reboot your PC and choose your USB flash drive as the boot device.

Create the live usb version from Windows 2nd method

Advantage

  • The key can boot in BIOS and UEFI.
  • You can use the remaining space to store data on your key.
  • The persistent partition is in exFAT format which is usable from Windows and Linux.
  • By copying ISO/IMG/WIM files to the exFAT partition they can be launched from Grub2 File Manager.
  • By copying Porteus modules (.xzm file) to the exFAT partition they can be activated with a double click from Porteus.

Disadvantage

  • None.

Requirements to create exFAT partition: Windows 10 or higher.

Download Ikki_Boot.iso https://ikkiboot.tuxfamily.org/en/download.html

Download the portable version of Rufus from the official website https://rufus.ie/

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Plug in your USB flash drive

Be careful, all the content of the key will be DELETED Make a BACKUP of your USB flash drive before

Double click on Rufus to execute it and click on Yes

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Click on Yes to check for application updates online

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Click on the select button

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Click on Ikki_Boot.iso then on open

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Before clicking on ready, check the device size to confirm that the size matches that of your USB flash drive

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Click on the start button and Check the box Write in DD image mode and click on ok

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A warning message appears, click on ok

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The image is written on the USB flash drive

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Click on close when the operation is finished

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The following steps require a Windows 10 or higher.

Open the Run menu by pressing the Windows key and the R key simultaneously

Type diskmgmt.msc and click on Ok

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Once the utility is open, look for your USB key which appears as a removable disk, the 1st partition has the name IKKI_BOOT

On the screenshot : a 7.5 GB USB key

On the 4th partition of your removable drive, right click, the partition is displayed as "Unallocated", and click on New single volume

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The wizard for creating a simple volume appears, click on next

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Click on next

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Click on next

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In the File System select exFAT and in the Volume Name enter the desired name for your partition

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Click on Finish to finalize the procedure

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Optional: you can delete the 3rd partition of 2 MB by right clicking delete volume and confirm with yes

You can now reboot your PC and choose your USB flash drive as the boot device

Create the live USB version from Linux 1st method

Advantage

  • The key can boot in BIOS and UEFI.
  • You can use the remaining space to store data on your key.
  • The persistent partition is in exFAT format which can be used from Windows and Linux.
  • All you have to do is execute a script.
  • By copying ISO/IMG/WIM files to the exFAT partition they can be launched from Grub2 File Manager.
  • By copying Porteus modules (.xzm file) to the exFAT partition they can be activated with a double click from Porteus.

Disadvantage

  • Nothing

Download Ikki_Boot.iso https://ikkiboot.tuxfamily.org/en/download.html

Then click on the link Ikki_USB_Creator_en.sh or New_Ikki_USB_Creator_en.sh and right-click "Save Page As"

The New_Ikki_USB_Creator_en.sh script lets you modify Ikki Boot.

You must now have both files in the Downloads folder

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Open a Terminal as root

Move to the directory where the files were downloaded :

cd /home/julien/Downloads

Give the execution rights :

chmod +x Ikki_USB_Creator_en.sh

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Plug in your USB key and run Ikki_USB_Creator_en.sh :

./Ikki_USB_Creator_en.sh -i Ikki_Boot.iso

Press the letter "y" and press Enter to confirm

Confirm the deletion of your USB key by entering "YES" and press Enter to validate

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Wait until the procedure is completed

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You can now reboot your PC and choose your USB flash drive as the boot device.

Create the live USB version from Linux 2nd method

Advantage

  • The key can boot in BIOS and UEFI.

Disadvantage

  • All the disk space of the key is used.

Download Ikki_Boot.iso https://ikkiboot.tuxfamily.org/en/download.html then open a Terminal in root

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Go to the directory where the file was downloaded :

cd /home/julien/Downloads

Plug in your USB flash drive

Be careful, all the content of the key will be DELETED Make a BACKUP of your USB flash drive before

List the devices currently connected :

fdisk -l

Example with an 16 GB key

Well noted the name of the disk, here /dev/sdb

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Check that the name of the disk matches your USB flash drive :

fdisk -l /dev/sdX

Replace /dev/sdX with the name of your device

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The disk has an available size of 14.3 GB this corresponds well to our 16 GB key

WARNING: Although the process of imaging Ikki Boot onto a USB drive is very easy, you can just as easily overwrite a disk drive you didn't intend to with dd if you do not understand what you are doing, or if you specify an incorrect output path. Double-check what you're doing before you do it, it'll be too late afterwards.

The example command below assumes that the ISO image you're writing is named "Ikki_Boot.iso" and is in your current working directory :

dd if=Ikki_Boot.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress && sync

In the command line /dev/sdb has been replaced by /dev/sdX

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If you see dd: invalid status flag: 'progress', your dd version doesn't support the status=progress option and you'll need to remove it. In this case, you won't see writing progress

You can now reboot your PC and choose your USB flash drive as the boot device

Create the live USB version from Linux 3rd method

Advantage

  • You can use the remaining space to store data on your key from Linux

Disadvantage

  • The key can only start in BIOS

Download Ikki_Boot.iso then open a Terminal in root

Go to the directory where the ISO file was downloaded and unzip to a temp folder :

cd /home/julien/Downloads
7z x Ikki_Boot.iso -o./temp

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Plug in your USB flash drive and launch GParted

Select your key in the top right corner (the size of your key will help you find it)

Example with an 8 GB key

Well noted the name of the partition here /dev/sdc1 and the name of your key here /dev/sdc

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!!! Please note that the following operations will delete all data from your USB stick !!!

If your key is already in Ext3 you can skip this step

Right-click on the partition and then Format to Ext3

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Apply All Operations

A message appears reminding you that your USB stick will be deleted

Click on Applys

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Right-click on the partition and choose Manage flags, then check "boot"

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Mount your USB flash drive

Usually it is enough to double click on the icon of the key present on the desktop.

On the Terminal, enter the following command to verify that the key is mounted correctly: (replace /dev/sdc1 with the partition name of your key) :

mount | grep /dev/sdc1

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You can see that the key is mounted in the /media/julien/Ikki_Boot folder

Copy Ikki Boot to your USB stick (replace /media/julien/Ikki_Boot/ by the path where your key is mounted) :

cp -rf temp/* /media/julien/Ikki_Boot/

Move to the linux folder :

cd temp/script/syslinux/linux/

Write Syslinux MBR on your key

(Please note that you must replace /dev/sdc with the name of your key) :

dd conv=notrunc bs=440 count=1 if=mbr.bin of=/dev/sdc

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Modify rights to make extlinux executable :

chmod +x extlinux

Install extlinux on your key

Replace /media/julien/Ikki_Boot by the path where your key is mounted :

./extlinux -i /media/julien/Ikki_Boot/boot/syslinux/

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The message "is device /dev/sdc1" confirms that the installation went well

Detach your USB stick

(replace /media/julien/Ikki_Boot by the path where your key is mounted) :

umount /media/julien/Ikki_Boot/

You can now reboot your PC and choose your USB flash drive as the boot device

Create the Live USB version from Linux 4th method

Advantage

  • The key can boot in BIOS and UEFI.
  • Use of the software Disks (or Gnome-disks).

Disadvantage

  • All the disk space of the key is used.

Download Ikki_Boot.iso, plug your USB key then launch gnome-disks.

https://ikkiboot.tuxfamily.org/en/download.html

The disk utility opens.

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Select your USB drive, you can find it via it's size.

In the example below we select an 8.1 GB stick.

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Click on the menu with the 3 small dots on the top right and select "Restore disk image".

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Click on the line where the word "None" is indicated to select the ISO file.

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Once the ISO file is selected, click "Open".

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Click on "Start Restoring".

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Be careful all the content of your key will be DELETED.
Make a BACKUP of your key before any manipulation.

A warning message will appear, click on "Restore".

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The operation is done.

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Once the restoration is finished. You can remove your USB key.

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You can now reboot your PC and choose your USB key as boot device.

How to customize Porteus ?

Prerequisite: create the USB key with Rufus (1st method) or with New_Ikki_USB_Creator_en.sh.

Download a module from Sourceforge.
A module corresponds to an application with all its dependencies.

For example abricotine-1.1.4.x86_64.xzm.

Copy the abricotine-1.1.4.x86_64.xzm file into the porteus/optional directory, so that the abricotine software is available the next time Porteus is started.

Alternatively, you can copy the module to the extra directory at the root of the key, and activate it on demand by double-clicking from Porteus.

Tip:
To change the wallpaper, simply replace the porteus.jpg file in :
porteus/rootcopy/usr/share/wallpapers

Burn an ISO file

Launch your usual burning software and choose Burn image

Example with Brasero :

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Select an ISO file and click Burn

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The operation is performed

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Check the health of your hard drive

Start on Ikki Boot and launch GParted

Once started right-click File/System utils to open GSmartControl :

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Select your disk

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Double-click to open the menu and then click the Self-Tests tab to test your disk

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Select your test from the Test Type list, the estimated duration is displayed and click Execute to start the test

Once the test is completed, the Status must display Completed without error