run centos 5 from a usb stick to test a program

I have a very specific issue,

I wanted to run a C - program on Cent OS 5, but i dont really use cent os for much work. I was wondering if I can have a 'live' version on a pendrive and test the C program on that

I see in some places its mentioned that cent os is not designed to be run as a live distro from USB sticks, but surely just for the sake of testing a single program, it would run right ?

SO the questions are - Will CentOS 5 run off a usb ? Whats the quickest way to make a live usb ?(i have Ubuntu and win 8 installed so can use both)

SidSen

Posted 2013-08-14T13:00:42.717

Reputation: 149

Answers

You can boot CentOS from Live USB, just fire up your Ubuntu and use dd command like below syntax:

dd if=YourLiveImagePath of=/dev/sd"letter"

Note: of means Output file, sda means your harddisk and sdb means your second hard which here is USB.. But to ensure what is the letter in sd"letter", after plug usb in execute dmesg | tail command. It will show you.

Note: Before installing CentOS on your USB, Unmount your USB.. it's important.

Then simply boot your computer from USB and execute your C files..

There are other graphical softwares which can create LiveUSB from your image in Ubuntu or Windows.. i.g UNetbootin.

Sepahrad Salour

Posted 2013-08-14T13:00:42.717

Reputation: 928

ok .. now i downloaded CentOS 5 off its website, and created a bootable USB. It still did not boot ( I know i can boot from usb since I installed Ubuntu and Windows through it) I read that i need a 'live' version for it. Is it different from a standard distro ? – SidSen – 2013-08-15T10:34:59.567

@SidSen: There are two model OS. bin and Live.. Live model is bootable and bin model has binary packages... It's simple: Download CentOS-6.4-x86_64-LiveDVD.iso from http://mirror.vit.com.tr/mirror/CentOS/6.4/isos/x86_64/ ... Then Install it on USB (in linux with dd command which I said before or in windows use software like UNetbootin)

– Sepahrad Salour – 2013-08-15T11:55:22.797

@SidSen: Or burn that ISO (Download CentOS-6.4-x86_64-LiveDVD.iso) on DVD then boot computer from it.. Remember if it doesn't boot, go to the BIOS setup and change UEFI to Legacy Boot.. – Sepahrad Salour – 2013-08-15T11:57:12.273

any one can use a program like yumi or unetbootin to create a live usb. unetbootin is also available in ubuntu.

the current versions of unetbootin support cent os 4,5,6.(as per official site)

yumi supports cent os and cent os x64

creating live distro from windows will only take a few mouse clicks. extensive information about creating bootable pendrive is available in the official site.

Ashildr

Posted 2013-08-14T13:00:42.717

Reputation: 2 574

As with most other Linux distros, it will run off USB if your machine supports Linux running off USB.

The easiest way to get it to work is to pass "expert" to the installer at the boot screen so that it allows you to select the USB device as an installation target. Don't forget to install the bootloader to the USB device and not the hard drive.

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

Posted 2013-08-14T13:00:42.717

Reputation: 100 516