Install from iso without burning?

[vsreeser]

Is there a way to install from an ISO without burning the iso to optical or usb drive? Just a thought.

[ronw]

I have not tried it, but came across this the other day.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/ISOBoot

[oshunluvr]

The exact entry depends on the ISO you're trying to boot too.

[Tom_ZeCat]

Yuppers. Do you have access to a *buntu PC yet? If so, it's pretty simple. You take a flash drive (I think it has to be at least 1 GB if I remember right) and the ISO of Kubuntu or whatever distro you want, and you use a program named Startup Disk Creator to make the thumb drive bootable to the OS install program. Here's the official Ubuntu documentation:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...n/FromUSBStick

I recommend using a flash drive that doesn't have anything you care about on it. I always format it first, though you probably don't have to.

[oshunluvr]

Tom: I think you missed the part about not burning to CD or USB.


vreeser: I have used this grub.cfg to boot to multiple ISO's on a thumb drive

set timeout=10
set default=0


menuentry "Run SystemRescue Live ISO" {
 loopback loop /systemrescuecd-x86-4.4.1.iso
 linux (loop)/isolinux/rescue64 setkmap=us isoloop=/systemrescuecd-x86-4.4.1.iso splash --
 initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
}


menuentry "Run Ubuntu Live ISO" {
 loopback loop /ubuntu.iso
 linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/ubuntu.iso splash --
 initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}


menuentry "Run Network Security Toolkit Live ISO" {
 loopback loop /nst-20-5663.i686.iso
 linux (loop)/isolinux/vmlinuz setkmap=us isoloop=/nst-20-5663.i686.iso splash --
 initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
}

[Tom_ZeCat]

Tom: I think you missed the part about not burning to CD [B]or USB.

Oops, sorry. Sleep-deprived-induced bad reading comprehension.

[life0riley]

I do this all the time when I install a VirtualBox guest. I just download the ISO image and point to that directory as the source for the install.

[vinnywright]

I do this all the time when I install a VirtualBox guest. I just download the ISO image and point to that directory as the source for the install.

LOL I do not think that is what their talking about either.

he wants to do a real install (to HD partition ((not virtual)) from the .iso with out burning to cd/DVD or making live-USB .

VINNY

[vsreeser]

LOL I do not think that is what their talking about either.

he wants to do a real install (to HD partition ((not virtual)) from the .iso with out burning to cd/DVD or making live-USB .

VINNY

That's exactly what I want to do. I can burn the installs to a 32Gb thumb drive with YUMI. Just looking for other ways. Playing with multiple distros. So, far, I have installed and running, Kubuntu 14.04, Kali 1.09, and Fedora 21. Another 500 Gb left on this drive, and roughly 2Tb on the other. Won't get too carried away. But it would be nice if I need to reinstall. Seems that it would be faster, but I may be wrong there.

[GerardV]

A while ago, i installed an .iso, can't remember which one, accidently to a spare partition of an ext HDD instead of the intended thumbdrive. I can,t remember what i used but i think it was Unetbootin. I use either that or dd.
I did'nt think it was possible to do that but there you go. And i managed to boot from that partition and then install it as intended. Maybe that's something to think about

[GreyGeek]

Assuming I am starting from a running Kubuntu on sda, for example, and I mounted the ISO using the "mount -loop ..." Option, and then ran the install script my first stumbling block would be the partition menu. I can't partition the HD I am running on, so I will have to install on sdb or some other storage device besides sda.

[oshunluvr]

Assuming I am starting from a running Kubuntu on sda, for example, and I mounted the ISO using the "mount -loop ..." Option, and then ran the install script my first stumbling block would be the partition menu. I can't partition the HD I am running on, so I will have to install on sdb or some other storage device besides sda.

Gerry, you should be able use a 40_custom grub stanza like the ones I posted above and boot most ISO's directly from your hard drive.

Obviously, depending on the partitioner in use some distros will allow you to install (most if not all debian based for sure) to an existing btrfs filesystem - just don't select formatting. If the partitioner is not btrfs subvolume aware (like Ubiquity is) it will simply install to the root volume. So what you'll see is your subvolumes along with the new install. It looks messy, but works fine because your other install(s) are snug inside their subvolumes.

You can only do this once or the install in the root location will be overwritten. One possible solution is to immediately after completing the new installation, boot to a different install and move the folders of the new install into a subvolume of their own and re-configure grub and the associated fstab. I've done this once, but is was a bit of a PITA so I decided to set aside a separate hard drive for testing distros that don't use subvolumes - which are most of them.

[vsreeser]

I usually turn off my external when installing. I once deleted the partition table on it. Fortunately, I had other copies of what was on there (15 years of kid pics). I typically copy all of them to the other 7 computers in the house. If I have a fire and need to get out quick, I just have to pick up one laptop on the way out

[oshunluvr]

FYI, partition tables can be backed up and restored - just in case you're planning on doing that again...