If you’ve ever wanted to try Linux distributions like Ubuntu, you must have noticed that you can use a USB drive to create a bootable “Live USB” for that. This basically means that you don’t need to install the distribution on your system and you can just boot from Live USB and test it. If you like the distribution, you can simply install it from USB. The process of doing this is easy and can be done on any Mac (and Windows PC). So, if you’re wondering how to create a Live USB and boot to a live Linux USB on Mac, here’s how to do it:
Creating Bootable Live USB for Linux Distributions
To live boot into Linux on Mac, you must first create a Live USB for your desired distribution. We show this using Ubuntu 14.10 “Burn Yakket”on a MacBook Air running the latest version of macOS Sierra. You can download Ubuntu from its official site. Web site, it’s free. Once you’ve done that, you can continue with this guide. Make sure you have a USB drive of at least 8GB on hand.
note: This USB drive will be formatted and all data on it will be deleted. Make sure you have a backup of any important data that may be on this USB drive.
To create a Bootable Live USB for Ubuntu on macOS, simply follow these steps:
1. Download UNetbootinand install it on your Mac. After doing this, start the applicationand click the radio button next to “.disc image“.
2. Click on Button labeled with “…”and Choose the ISO file You downloaded it from Ubuntu’s website.
3. Now, connect USB drive you want to use as live USB start terminaland write “diskutil list”. Check the “identifier” for your USB drive.
4. In UNetbootin, select this identifier from the drop-down menu that says: “To spread”.
note: Make sure to select the identifier for your USB drive because the selected drive will be formatted.
5. After making sure you have selected the correct driver, Click “OK”.
UNetbootin will now run in a few steps and create a bootable Live USB on your Mac that you can use to boot into Linux.
note: By default, any changes you make are deleted when you close a Live Session. Therefore, if you install applications and create documents in Ubuntu while in Live mode, they will not be available the next time you boot the Operating System with Live USB. If you want any changes you make to persist between reboots, you can do so by setting a value under “.space used to preserve files on reboots (Ubuntu only)“.
Live Boot Linux on Mac
Now that the Live USB has been created, let’s see how we can boot it using it. Mac Startup Manager. If you don’t know how to open Startup Manager on Mac, just follow these steps:
one. Live USB plugged in Install it on your Mac and turn it off. Then press the power button and press and hold most “choice” press the “Startup Manager“.
2. Here you will see all the drives your Mac can boot from, including “Macintosh HD” with macOS Sierra. Most likely, you will only have two options, one will be the “Macintosh HD” and the other will be the Linux USB drive called “”.Windows or EFIUse the arrow keys for “. Highlight the Linux driverand bass”Return/Entry“.
Your Mac will now use the bootable USB drive to boot into Ubuntu. once you see blue screen with some options, select “try ubuntu without installing“, and bass”Return/Entry“. Your Mac will boot in Ubuntu.
SEE ALSO: 10 Must Have Linux Apps to Install
Easily Boot to Live Linux on Mac
You can use this method to boot your Mac from a Live USB disk of a Linux distribution. Using Live Sessions is great if you don’t need to install the operating system on your hard drive or SSD; and macOS will stay safe from anything you do in Live OS. If you want to restart in macOS Sierra, simply close Live Session and start your Mac by pressing the power button.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free and let us know your thoughts on using Live USB drivers to boot into Linux distributions in the comments section below.
