Ventoy

What It Does

Ventoy creates a special two-partition layout on your USB drive: a small boot partition (with its bootloader) and a large exFAT data partition. You copy ISO, WIM, IMG, VHD, or EFI files onto the data partition like a normal file copy. When you boot from the drive, Ventoy intercepts the boot process, scans for image files, and presents a selection menu. It supports UEFI Secure Boot, legacy BIOS, and persistence for Linux live sessions.

Why You Need It

If you carry more than one bootable tool -- and in cybersecurity, you will -- Ventoy eliminates the need for multiple USB drives or re-flashing the same drive. One 64GB stick can hold Kali Linux, Ubuntu Server, Windows 11 installer, GParted Live, Clonezilla, memtest86+, and a dozen more. Referenced in SG-31: Build a Bootable USB Drive. This is the tool for anyone who regularly deploys or troubleshoots systems.

How to Install It

Windows:

1. Go to the Ventoy GitHub Releases page
2. Download the latest ventoy-X.X.XX-windows.zip
3. Extract the zip. Run Ventoy2Disk.exe
4. Select your USB drive, click Install. This formats the drive and writes the Ventoy bootloader. You only do this once.

Linux:

1. Download the Linux tarball from the same releases page: ventoy-X.X.XX-linux.tar.gz
2. Extract and run the installer:

   tar -xzf ventoy-*-linux.tar.gz
   cd ventoy-*
   sudo ./Ventoy2Disk.sh -i /dev/sdX

   Replace /dev/sdX with your USB device (check with lsblk first).
3. Alternatively, use the GUI: sudo ./VentoyGUI.x86_64

To update Ventoy on an already-prepared drive (preserves your ISOs): use Update instead of Install in the GUI, or sudo ./Ventoy2Disk.sh -u /dev/sdX on Linux.

Note: The original ventoy.net website is no longer accessible. GitHub is now the official source for Ventoy downloads and documentation.

How to Use It

1. Copy ISOs to the drive. After installation, the data partition appears as a normal USB drive in your file manager. Drag ISO files onto it. Organize them in folders if you want -- Ventoy recurses through all directories.
2. Boot from the USB. Restart the target machine and enter the boot menu (usually F12, F2, or Esc during POST). Select the Ventoy USB drive.
3. Select an image. Ventoy shows all detected images in a list. Arrow keys to navigate, Enter to boot.
4. Use "Boot in normal mode" for most images. If an image fails, try "Boot in wimboot mode" (for Windows PE images) or "Boot in memdisk mode" (loads entire ISO into RAM first -- slower start, but bypasses compatibility issues).
5. Set up persistence (optional). Create a persistence data file using the CreatePersistentImg.sh script (Linux) or Ventoy\CreatePersistentImg.exe (included in the download). Place it on the drive alongside the ISO and create a ventoy/ventoy.json config file mapping the ISO to the persistence image.

Common Gotchas

• Secure Boot requires enrollment. On UEFI Secure Boot machines, Ventoy will prompt you to enroll its key (ENROLL_THIS_KEY_IN_MOKMANAGER.cer) through the MOK Manager on first boot. Follow the on-screen prompts. If you skip this step, the drive will not boot on Secure Boot systems.
• exFAT partition may not mount on older Linux. The data partition is exFAT by default. Older Linux kernels (pre-5.4) need the exfat-fuse package to mount it. Alternatively, you can format the data partition as NTFS during Ventoy installation (Options menu), but exFAT is recommended.
• Some ISOs need special handling. A small number of ISOs (especially custom/modified ones) may not boot correctly. Check the Ventoy compatibility list on GitHub for known issues.
• Do not format the Ventoy boot partition. If Windows pops up a "Format this drive" dialog for the small VTOYEFI partition, click Cancel. Formatting it will destroy the bootloader.
• Update vs Install. "Install" wipes the entire drive. "Update" only replaces the Ventoy bootloader and preserves all your ISOs. Always use Update when upgrading Ventoy versions on a drive that already has images on it.