# Creating a Disk Image on Linux Using DD

## Things You Will Need

- A USB flash drive https://amzn.to/3wkR5ju | https://amzn.to/3qkrJ1p | https://amzn.to/3Nhu9b9
- Or microSD card https://amzn.to/36CpShC | https://amzn.to/3JqyxSP

## Creating An Image

1. Insert the SD card or USB flash drive to make an image of
2. Run the following commands in a terminal window:
   # list out disks
   sudo fdisk -l
   # run the following to create a .img, replace sdb with the correct source disk
   sudo dd if=/dev/sdb of=~/flashstorage.img status=progress
   # run the following to create a compressed img, replace sdb with the correct source disk
   sudo dd if=/dev/sdb status=progress | gzip -c >~/flashstorage.img.gz

## Restoring An Image

1. Insert the SD card or USB flash drive to make an image of
2. Run the following commands in a terminal window:
   # list out disks
   sudo fdisk -l
   # run the following to restore an .img to the target device
   # replace sdb with the correct source disk
   # MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THE OUTPUT TARGET IS CORRECT
   # OR YOU COULD POTENTIAL DAMAGE YOUR OS
   # restore img
   sudo dd if=~/flashstorage.img of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress
   # restore gzipped img
   gunzip -c ~/flashstorage.img.gz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress