This page explains how to install SystemRescueCD on a USB stick. Installing SystemRescueCd on an USB stick allows you to use the system from a USB stick instead of using a DVD. You need a recent SystemRescueCd, and a USB stick with enough space. You need at least 2GB unless you have removed files from the official version. You will have to get your firmware (BIOS/UEFI) to boot from the USB device before it attempts to boot from the local disk. This can be configured either in the firmware settings or by pressing a key at boot time.
This page describes the best options available for installing such a USB stick.
If you are running Windows on your computer the recommended installation program is rufus as it is easy to use and supports both UEFI and Legacy-BIOS booting methods.
SYSRCDXYZ
(cf below)In the previous steps SYSRCDXYZ
refers to the version number, eg: SYSRCD601
for SystemRescueCd-6.0.1. Rufus should automatically use the label which was set
on the ISO filesystem and hence it should set this label automatically on the
USB device. You should not have to change it but you should make sure the label
is correct as this is required for the device to start properly. What matters is
that the label matches the value passed to the archisolabel
boot option in the
boot loader configuration files on the device (grubsrcd.cfg
and
sysresccd_sys.cfg
) so files can be found at the time the system starts from
the USB device.
If you are running Linux on your computer it is very easy to install SystemRescueCD on a USB stick. It will produce an USB stick which is bootable with both a Legacy BIOS and in UEFI node.
This approach is easy to use from a Linux system and it requires the dd command to copy the ISO image file to the USB device. Make sure you use the right device with dd as the operation is destructive if you write to the wrong device.
lsblk
in a terminal to identify the device name for your USB devicedd if=/path/to/systemrescuecd-x.y.z.iso of=/dev/sdx
where /dev/sdx
is the USB stickFollow this method is you want to boot the USB device in UEFI mode. The idea is to create a FAT32 partition on the device where the firmware will find Grub. For the UEFI firmware to use this partition as the EFI filesystem is must have the right flags in the partition table. The USB device can have additional partitions.
SYSRCDXYZ
as the filesystem labelIn the previous steps SYSRCDXYZ
refers to the version number, eg: SYSRCD601
for SystemRescueCd-6.0.1.
After you have followed these steps you should check the contents of both
/boot/grub/grubsrcd.cfg
and /sysresccd/boot/syslinux/sysresccd_sys.cfg
on
the USB device has the right value for the archisolabel
boot option. The label
passed to this option needs to match the label of the FAT32 filesystem on the USB
device so it can find the SystemRescueCd files during the boot time. A mismatch
will cause a boot failure.