How to create a LiveUSB install for Ubuntu 14.04 Server

Question

How do you create a LiveUSB for Ubuntu 14.04?

I downloaded the most recent ISO and used the "startup disk" creator to write that ISO to a USB drive. I plugged that drive into the target machine booted, and the installer appeared to start just fine. And then it asked me to insert the CD to continue an failed when I couldn't do so... Although the machine does technically have a CD drive, I want to install from the USB drive...which the installer is running from.

This question has been asked before, but it seems the current Ubuntu 14.04 installer requires a CD-ROM, which makes no sense to me. What am I missing?

Answer 1

Have you checked the integrity of the image before and after it was transferred to the USB? (make sure to replace sdx with the correct identifier).

You can compare the output with the hashes listed here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuHashes (it should match exactly both times)

md5sum /path/to/ubuntu.iso

If this first check doesn't match, you must download the file again and check it again (and potentially repeat that process, although its unlikely), until it matches.

md5sum /dev/sdxn

(Note that this is running md5sum on a partition, not a device) If the hash matched above but not once it's on the USB drive, you need to copy the image onto the drive again.

In addition to tool that you used, you can use dd:

dd if=/path/to/ubuntu.iso of=/dev/sdx

Of course, you'll want to be extremely careful you write to the correct device. Also keep in mind that calculating the MD5 will take some time for such a large image, so be patient.