---
title: 'USB disk with Linux'
url: 'https://tucek.me/en/tech/useful-tips/usb-disk-with-linux'
markdown: 'https://tucek.me/en/tech/useful-tips/usb-disk-with-linux.md'
lang: en
date: '2026-09-09'
description: 'Create bootable Debian installations USB On Linux, you can use the command line tool dd for a bit-for-bit copy. First, identify your USB device (e.g., /dev/sdX) using lsblk or sudo fdisk -l, and ensure it is unmounted. Then, execute the command: sudo dd if=path/to/debian.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M statu…'
---

# USB disk with Linux

## Create bootable Debian installations USB

On Linux, you can use the command line tool **dd** for a bit-for-bit copy. First, identify your USB device (e.g., `/dev/sdX`) using `lsblk` or `sudo fdisk -l`, and ensure it is unmounted. Then, execute the command:

```
sudo dd if=path/to/debian.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
```

## ext4

```
lsblk
```

**Unmount it (replace sdb with your device)**

```
sudo umount /dev/sdX1
```

**Create a GPT partition table**

```
sudo parted /dev/sdX --script -- mklabel gpt
```

**Create a single ext4 partition spanning the whole disk**

```
sudo parted /dev/sdX --script -- mkpart primary ext4 0% 100%
```

**Format as ext4 (-F forces, -L sets a label)**

```
sudo mkfs.ext4 -F -L "MyUSB" /dev/sdX1
```

**Verify**

```
sudo parted /dev/sdb --script -- print
lsblk -f
```

A few notes:

- **GPT** is preferred over MBR here since ext4 is Linux-only and GPT handles larger disks better. MBR works fine for sticks under 2 TB though.
- The `-F` flag on `mkfs.ext4` forces creation even if the device looks like a whole disk (no partition table) — useful if you skip step 3–4 and format the raw device directly.
- **Ownership**: after formatting, the root directory is owned by `root`. If you'll mount it as a regular user, fix it with:

```
sudo chown $USER /dev/sdb1  # won't work; do this after mounting
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
sudo chown $USER /mnt/usb
```

**Mount** when you want to use it:

```
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/usb
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
```

## **exFAT**

```
# 1. Identify the device
lsblk

# 2. Unmount
sudo umount /dev/sdb1

# 3. Create partition table (GPT)
sudo parted /dev/sdb --script -- mklabel gpt

# 4. Create partition
sudo parted /dev/sdb --script -- mkpart primary exfat 0% 100%

# 5. Format as exFAT
sudo mkfs.exfat -L "MyUSB" /dev/sdb1

# 6. Verify
sudo blkid /dev/sdb1
# → /dev/sdb1: LABEL="MyUSB" UUID="..." TYPE="exfat"
```

---

## Navigation

- Parent: [Useful tips](https://tucek.me/en/tech/useful-tips.md)
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