Booting ISO Files

These are the steps required to set up a Grub2Win menu entry for booting an ISO file. The file can be on a hard disk, CD, DVD or USB flash drive.

First add a new menu entry by clicking "Add A New Entry" on the Managing the boot menu  screen.

When the orange Edit screen appears, select an OS Type of isoboot.

You will now see the Entering custom code screen. You can click either the Select ISO File or Load Sample Code button to get started.

#

#            This is sample code for booting from an iso file

#            via the Grub2Win g2wisoboot function

#

#

     set gfxpayload=1024x768                             # Needed for many graphics cards

     set isopath='/** your iso file path **'                

     set kernelpath='/** kernel path **'                

     set initrdpath='/** initrd path **'                        

     set bootparms='** your linux bootparms **'        

#

     g2wisoboot                                                  # Run the g2wisoboot function

#  

If you click the Select ISO File button. Grub2Win will fill in the path to the ISO file you select and set the isopath variable for you. Grub will search all available drives at boot time to locate this file.

You will need to edit the code to set four variables: isopath, kernelpath, initrdpath and bootparms. Click the "Edit Custom Code" button to open notepad and edit the code.

Set the kernelpath and initrdpath variables to the location within the iso file where the kernel and initrd are located. You can open your iso file with 7-Zip to find the paths to these files.

Set the bootparms parameter to the parms required for your Linux distribution. These parms can be complex and vary widely, so you will need to consult the documentation for your particular software.

Once you have set up the variables, save the file and continue with your menu entry. Grub2Win will include the necessary function in the C:\grub2\grub.cfg file for your new ISO Boot menu entry.

You can practice using isoboot to boot the Ubuntu 16.10 Mate 64 bit ISO file which can be downloaded here: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/16.10/release/ubuntu-mate-16.10-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent

Here is the working code used to boot the Ubuntu ISO. You will need to set the isopath variable to the location where you save the ISO file.

********************************************************************************************************************

set gfxpayload=1024x768                                              

set isopath='/ubuntu-mate-16.10-desktop-amd64.iso'

set kernelpath='/casper/vmlinuz.efi'

set initrdpath='/casper/initrd.lz'

set bootparms='boot=casper iso-scan/filename='$isopath' noprompt noeject ---'

g2wisoboot

*******************************************************************************************************************

The isoboot facility is new to Grub2Win. I will be monitoring the discussion board for any problems or questions that may arise.

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