MultiCD, create an ISO image with your favorite distributions

about multicd

In the next article we are going to take a look at MultiCD. This tool is a shell script with which you will be able to easily create a multiboot image. This means that we will be able to have different operating systems available in a single ISO image. The image that is generated will be able to be written later on a DVD or flash drive.

For any user, have your Availability of a DVD or USB with multiple operating systems to install, it can be very useful. Either to test, debug something or simply to reinstall the operating system of a computer. This availability of favorite systems can save the user a lot of time. If you've ever wanted to create the DVD / Bootable USB multiple, it is a perfect option to try.

MultiCD Compatible Distributions

MultiCD is compatible with almost all kinds of popular distributions. Even though the website says that this list is not updated since 2017 and some of the links do not work, I have to say that all the ones that I have been able to download, worked correctly. Among them the following can be highlighted:

  • Debian
  • Ubuntu
  • Arch Linux
  • Fedora
  • Linux Mint
  • openSUSE
  • CentOS
  • Scientific Linux
  • Kali Linux
  • PCLinuxOS
  • Pingoy OS
  • Zorin OS
  • Slax
  • GParted Live
  • Hiren's Bootable CD
  • Windows

These are just a few systems available. For see the full list of available distributions, you can go to the project website.

Download MultiCD Script

MultiCD is hosted on GitHub. To get the latest version we can use the Git command and clone the MultiCD repository. You just have to open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and write in it:

Download MultiCD with Git

git clone git://github.com/IsaacSchemm/MultiCD.git

Create multiboot image

If we want to create our multi-start image, we will have to have the images of the distributions that we would like to use. These images can be download from the following link.

Once the download of the ISO files that interest us is finished, we will have to move them to the same directory where we have the MultiCD script.

ISO images for MultiCD example

For this article, I am going to download an image of Ubuntu 18.10 and Arch.

Systems supported by multicd

At this point it is important to take into account, as they advise on their website, that downloaded images should be renamed as indicated in the list of supported distributions.

For this example, the Ubuntu .iso file can be left with the same name. But in the case of Arch, the name should be changed to arch.iso.

mv archlinux-2019.02.01-x86_64.iso arch.iso

When all the images have the indicated names, we can begin to create the multiboot image. To start you just have to run the following command in terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) inside MultiCD folder:

ISO Multicd creation

sudo ./multicd.sh

The script will search for the .iso files and try to create the new file. It is important to remember that the ISO images must be in the same directory as the launched .sh file. Once the process is completed we will obtain a new file called multicd.iso, inside the folder called build. This will be created inside the MultiCD folder.

multicd iso multiboot created

At this point you can burn the new image file to DVD or USB.

Testing the .ISO image created with MultiCD

In this simple way, anyone can create a single bootable media with several Gnu / Linux distributions. It is important emphasize the importance of always verifying the correct name for the .iso images that we are interested in using. If the name is not correct, the file might not be detected by multicd.sh.

At this point you can test the created .iso image. The startup screen that you should see would be something like the following:

multi multicd iso startup screen

Here we can choose the operating system to install. This will bring up the options for the selected system.

boot ubuntu multicd ISO

Similarly, as many multi-start images can be created as user wants, and then burn them to a single DVD or USB drive. When a new version of some ISO is released, just download it, put it in the MultiCD folder and run the script again to create a new multi-boot image.


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  1.   Rafa said

    There is a very good option to carry out this same task called "MultiSystem" which is an entire application that allows us to do exactly the same as this script, without having to change names and being able to edit the boot usb to add, remove, modify the systems we have within it. http://liveusb.info/

  2.   Francis Delgado Granado said

    The "multisystem" is more practical and simple.