How to use DD command in linux

What is DD command?

In Linux DD command is used to copy and convert files. It is a very powerful command and can be used to create disk images, clone hard drives, and much more. you can comapre it with windows Diskpart command but with more power.

How to use DD command?

NOTE: Before using DD command make sure you have a backup of your data. DD command can be very dangerous if used incorrectly.

Copying a file

To copy a file we can use the following command

dd if=/path/to/input/file of=/path/to/output/file

Here if is the input file and of is the output file. You can also use iflag and oflag to specify the input and output flags. For example, if you want to copy a file from a USB drive to your hard drive you can use the following command

dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/sda

Cloning a hard drive

Yes you can clone a hard drive using DD command. To do that you can use the following command

dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb

Here if is the input drive and of is the output drive.

Creating a disk image

You can also use DD command to create a disk image. This can be useful if you want to create a backup of your hard drive. To create a disk image you can use the following command

dd if=/dev/sda of=/path/to/output/file

Same as before if is the input drive and of is the output file.

Creating a bootable USB drive

There are very useful GUI tools to create a bootable USB drive but if you want to look cool you can use DD command to create a bootable USB drive. To do that you can use the following command

dd if=/path/to/image/file of=/dev/sdb

Conclusion

In this article we learned about how to use DD command in Linux. We also learned about how to copy a file, clone a hard drive, create a disk image, and create a bootable USB drive using DD command. I hope you found this article useful. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know in the comments below.