UNetbootin - Universal Netboot Installer

Ubuntu/Debian Apt Repo (i386 .deb, amd64 .deb)

Download openSUSE .rpm Packages (Third-party)

Introduction

UNetbootin allows for the installation of various Linux/BSD distributions to a partition or USB drive, so it's no different from a standard install, only it doesn't need a CD. It can create a dual-boot install, or replace the existing OS entirely.

Requirements

• Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista, or Linux, or a USB Drive. If you are having trouble with the Linux version, try the Windows version, it usually works better.
• A broadband internet connection to download the distribution packages (unless installing from pre-downloaded media, see below)
• Spare hard drive space to install the OS in (varies depending on distribution)

Features

UNetbootin can install to your local hard disk or make a bootable liveUSB drive. It can also load floppy/hard disk images, or kernel/initrds, or (some) ISO (CD image) files, for installing other distributions.


The current version has built-in support for the following distributions, though installing other distributions is also supported:

---

UNetbootin can also be used to load various system utilities, including:

• Parted Magic, a partition manager that can resize, repair, backup, and restore partitions.
• Super Grub Disk, a boot utility that can restore and repair overwritten and misconfigured GRUB installs or directly boot various operating systems
• Backtrack, a utility used for network analysis and penetration testing.
• Ophcrack, a utility which can recover Windows passwords.
• NTPasswd, a utility which can reset Windows passwords and edit the registry.
• Gujin, a graphical bootloader that can also be used to boot various operating systems and media.
• Smart Boot Manager (SBM), which can boot off CD-ROM and floppy drives on computers with a faulty BIOS.
• FreeDOS, which can run BIOS flash and other legacy DOS utilities.

» See List of distributions for which UNetbootin has built-in support.

» See List of all distributions known to work with UNetbootin.

» See List of Custom UNetbootin Versions and Plugins.

» See Using a UNetbootin Plugin.

Installation & Screenshots

Before installing, remember to back up all your data, in case you do something wrong in the partitioning stage of the installer.

1. If using Windows, run the file, select a distribution, floppy/hard disk image, or kernel/initrd to load, select a target drive (HDD/USB), then reboot once done.
   
   
   
   
2. If using Linux, make the file executable (using either the command chmod +x ./unetbootin-linux, or going to Properties->Permissions and checking "Execute"), then start the application, you will be prompted for your password to grant the application administrative rights, then the main dialog will appear, where you select a distribution and install target (Hard Disk or USB Drive), then reboot when prompted.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. After rebooting, select the UNetbootin entry from the menu list as the system boots up.
   
   
4. Then, follow the installation instructions provided for specific distributions further below, and wait as the packages are downloaded and installed. This portion of the installation can take up to several hours, depending on your connection speed and the amount of packages you install, so be patient.
5. Reboot, and select your newly installed GNU/Linux system to run.

» See LiveUSB Creation Guide.

Removal Instructions

If using Windows, UNetbootin should prompt you to remove it the next time you boot into Windows. Alternatively, you can remove it via Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.

If using Linux, re-run the UNetbootin executable (with root priveledges), and press OK when prompted to uninstall.

Removal is only required if you used the "Hard Drive" installation mode; to remove the bootloader from a USB drive, back up its contents and reformat it.

Uninstalling UNetbootin simply removes the UNetbootin entry from your boot menu; if you installed an operating system to a partition using UNetbootin, removing UNetbootin will not remove the OS.

To manually remove a Linux installation, you will have to restore the Windows bootloader using "fixmbr" from a recovery CD, and use Parted Magic to delete the Linux partition and expand the Windows partition.

Installing Other Distributions Using UNetbootin

Download and run UNetbootin, then supply it with the appropriate floppy/hard disk image, ISO (CD image) file, or kernel and initrd files when prompted (see screenshot). Check your distribution's FTP mirrors to find these files. If special booting options and parameters are required for the kernel, and you're using Manual mode, check the distribution's boot configuration files (usually after the "kernel" line in either isolinux.cfg, syslinux.cfg, menu.lst, or grub.conf) and supply them on the "Option" line.

» See Using a UNetbootin Plugin.

How can I use or contribute translations?

The following translations are built into the latest release:

• Español / Spanish (es)
• Português / Portuguese (pt)
• Français / French (fr)
• Italiano / Italian (it)
• 中文 / Simplified Chinese (zh)
• Русский / Russian (ru)
• Magyar / Hungarian (hu)

If a translation is included that matches your system locale, UNetbootin will automatically start with your native language. Alternatively, the language can be manually specified on the command-line arguments or in the run options as "lang=xy" (no quotes), where xy is the 2-letter ISO 639-1 code for your language. For example, use "lang=es" to run with the Español (Spanish) locale. To use an external translation (only necessary if the translation hasn't yet been included in the latest release), place the .qm file (unetbootin_es.qm) into the same directory as the UNetbotin executable prior to running the application.

To create a translation, download the source zip package and find the .ts file for your language. Alternatively, the .ts files can be browsed and downloaded from the bazaar repository on Launchpad.net within the src/unetbootin subdirectory. These .ts files can be translated using Qt Linguist, which can be downloaded from Trolltech's Qt Downloads Page or, for Ubuntu users, is available as part of the qt4-dev-tools package. Once you have finished a translation, export it to a .qm file in Qt Linguist using "File -> Release As", upload the .ts and .qm files to the wiki and place a link on the translations page, or email the .ts file to me (see contact info below).

» See UNetbootin Translations.

FAQs

How does UNetbootin work, and what does it do?

UNetbootin uses a Windows or Linux-based installer to install a small modification to the bootloader (bootmgr and bcdedit on Vista, grldr and boot.ini for NT-based systems, grub.exe and config.sys for Win9x, grub on Linux, or syslinux when installing to a USB drive), uses the bootloader to boot the desired distribution's installer or to load the system utility, no CD required. After the distribution has been installed, or once done using the system utility, the modification to the bootloader is then undone.

Does it have any spyware, viruses, trojans, or other malware?

No; though some anti-virus products (Kaspersky) raise "Trojan.generic" warnings due to the auto-uninstall feature, these are false positives. Just make sure you obtain UNetbootin from the official downloads page on Sourceforge not some shady third-party source. If you're absolutely paranoid, you can check the source code and compile it yourself.

What is it written in, where's the source code, and how can I compile it?

UNetbootin is written in C++, using the Qt4 toolkit. Source code is available from the source zip package, or from the Launchpad page. The Linux version is compiled using g++, while the Windows version is cross-compiled using mingw32. Both use a statically linked version of qt4 (to eliminate external library dependencies). Executables are compressed using UPX to reduce file size.

» See Compiling UNetbootin.

How can I get my distribution supported by UNetbootin?

Create either:

• A kernel and initrd file, or
• A floppy or hard disk image file, or
• An isolinux-based ISO file

Which can perform an installation of your distribution, either in Live mode, or via an FTP-install option. Then, file a bug report and provide a link to the kernel/initrd, or disk image file(s), and your support for your distribution will be added in the next release of UNetbootin.

» See List of all distributions known to work with UNetbootin.

How can I create specialized, rebranded, distro-specific releases?

• Auto Super Grub Disk
• EeePCLinuxOS
• Ubuntu Eee
• FUSBi - Free USB Installer

UNetbootin can easily be rebranded and adapted to a specific distribution using either a plugin system, or a series of #define statements, as seen in the unetbootin.h file within the source code. If you are attempting to build a distro-specific version and need additional instructions and details, would like to have your patches merged upstream, or would like to have your custom version added to this list, please file a bug report.

» See Building a UNetbootin Plugin.

» See Using a UNetbootin Plugin.

» See Building a Custom UNetbootin Version.

» See List of Custom UNetbootin Versions and Plugins.

Where can I report bugs, request new features, get help, etc?

If you encounter errors with UNetbootin itself, post a question on the Ubuntu Forums, on either the LiveUSB installation thread or Hard disk installation thread depending on your install mode, or file a bug report. However, if it's a distribution or hardware-specific issue, file a bug report against the distribution itself.

License and Credits

UNetbootin was created and written by Geza Kovacs (tuxcantfly), contact info. Translators are listed on the translations page. UNetbootin is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 2 or above. Site materials can be used, copied, modified, and redistributed freely.