How to install balenaEtcher on Linux to make bootable USB drive

Install BalenaEtcher on Linux using simple methods. For those don’t know about Etcher, it is an open-source USB bootable tool that can be used on Windows, Linux or MAC OS platform to help users quickly burn image files to USB devices or flashcards. Etcher is for beginners who need to make their own bootable U disk.

To create a bootable USB Drive using BalenaEtcher on Linux such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, CentOS, and more… Just need to select an image file to be flashed like .iso and .img. After that select the USB device you want to burn. BalenaEtcher automatically recognizes the connected drive. Finally, click the “Flash!” button to make a bootable Pen drive.

Install balenaEtcher on Linux using AppImage

1: Download Etcher AppImage

To install BalenaEtcher on Linux operating system, we can use two methods- AppImage and via Repository.

First method via portable AppImage.

First is downloading a portable download a balenaEtcher AppImage. One can keep it on a pen drive or USB HHD to use it on almost all popular Linux operating systems. No need to install anything.

It has support for Ubuntu 19.04/18.04/16.0/14.04, Arch Linux, CentOS 6/7, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Red Hat, and other same stream operating systems.  The benefit of AppImage it can be used on a wide range of Linux Distros regardless of their type.

Go to the Balena Etcher Download page and if your system is 64-bit then download the respective Etcher AppImage and for those that have 32-bit, get the Etcher for Linux x86 (32-bit) (AppImage).

2: Run balenaEtcher AppImage

The downloaded balenaEtcher Appimage will be in the form of a zip file. Right-click on it and extract it.

After extracting you will find an AppImage of balenaEtcher, again right-click on it and select the Open option to run this USB bootable maker tool.

So, here is the Linux portable Baleno Etcher, ready to flash ISO or IMG bootable Images to your USB or Pen drives.

Note: This will not install the Etcher on your Linux system rather you have to run the AppImage every time to use it, a portable Etcher.

Method to install balenaEtcher on Linux using Repository

So, if you don’t want to use AppImage and want to install balenaEtcher on your Ubuntu or CentOS operating system like any other regular program, then here are the commands:

#For Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, ElementaryOS, and other same derivatives…

1. Add Etcher Debian repository:

In the command terminal fire the below command to add the Etcher repository:

echo "deb https://deb.etcher.io stable etcher" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/balena-etcher.list

2. Import GPG key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 379CE192D401AB61

3. Update System

sudo apt-get update

4. Install balenaEtcher on Ubuntu Linux

sudo apt-get install balena-etcher-electron

5. Uninstall balenaEtcher (optional)

sudo apt-get remove balena-etcher-electron
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/balena-etcher.list
sudo apt-get update

#For Redhat (RHEL), CentOS and other same derivatives

1. Add Etcher rpm repository:

sudo wget https://balena.io/etcher/static/etcher-rpm.repo -O /etc/yum.repos.d/etcher-rpm.repo

2. Update  System

sudo yum update

3. Install Etcher on RedHat or CentOS Linux

sudo dnf install -y balena-etcher-electron

4. Uninstall balenaEtcher from RedHat/CentOS Linux (optional)

sudo yum remove -y balena-etcher-electron
sudo rm /etc/yum.repos.d/etcher-rpm.repo
sudo yum clean all
sudo yum makecache fast

#For Fedora and its based Linux OS

1. Get balenaEtcher rpm repository:

sudo wget https://balena.io/etcher/static/etcher-rpm.repo -O /etc/yum.repos.d/etcher-rpm.repo

2. Update System

sudo dnf update

3. Install balenaEtcher on Fedora Linux

sudo dnf install -y balena-etcher-electron

4. Uninstall balenaEtcher from Fedora (optional)

sudo dnf remove -y balena-etcher-electron
sudo rm /etc/yum.repos.d/etcher-rpm.repo
sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf makecache

 

Install Etcher on Solus (GNU/Linux x64)

sudo eopkg it etcher

Uninstall

sudo eopkg rm etcher

 

In this way, we can install balenaEtcher on Linux to create a bootable USB drive.