Create or Re-provision an Installer USB

This guide explains how to use the tl-usb-prepare command to create a bootable TechLit OS installer from a standard USB drive. This is useful for creating new installer drives or fixing one that is no longer working correctly.

Caution

This process will permanently erase all data on the USB drive.

1. Ensure Recovery Image is Present

The installer is created from a recovery component. First, ensure you have the latest version on your machine.

tl-comp-latest recovery

If it’s not present, download it from the bastion first.

2. Identify the USB Drive

Plug the USB drive into your computer and run the following command to identify its device name.

lsblk

Look for a drive that matches the size of your USB. It will likely be named /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc.

3. Run the Prepare Command

Execute the tl-usb-prepare command, replacing /dev/sdX with the device name you found in the previous step.

# Example for a USB drive at /dev/sdb
tl-usb-prepare /dev/sdb

The script will handle all partitioning, formatting, and copying of necessary files.

4. Unplug the Drive

Once the script is complete, you can safely unplug the USB drive. It is now ready to be used to provision other devices.

Router