Creating a bootstick with AutoYaST

It is a good thing to have a Linux bootstick ready. You can boot any computer with it and diagnose hardware problems, eliminate viruses or fix startup problems.

There are a lot of ways to create a bootable USB stick. Today I want to explore a new one: Using a virtual machine and AutoYaST.  AutoYaST allows you to create a file to answer the installer's questions. We will use it on a VirtualBox virtual machine with no harddrive and a USB stick. This description is based on SUSE Linux 12.2, but other operating systems may work similar.

Create a virtual floppy

Autoyast requires a file that contains the answers to the installer's questions. It can be on a floppy disk. As I do not have a floppy drive, I will use a virtual floppy here which is a file. So, create a file that has exactly the size of a floppy disk by opening a console and typing:
dd if=/dev/zero of=floppy.img bs=1024 count=1440
Format this floppy:
mkfs.msdos floppy.img

Mount this floppy:
mkdir /mnt/loop 
mount -o loop floppy.img /mnt/loop
Create a file autoinst.xml that looks like this.
Copy the autoinst.xml to the virtual floppy
cp autoinst.xml /mnt/loop
Unmount the virtual floppy.
umount /mnt/loop

Create your virtual machine

Install VirtualBox on your SUSE Linux:
yast -i VirtualBox

Start VirtualBox with the command
VirtualBox

VirtualBox, in this case with 4 virtual machines

Create a new virtual machine without harddisk: Click on New -> Next -> enter "autoyast" as name for your virtual machine -> Next -> enter 1024 GB RAM -> Next -> un-tag "Start-up Disk" -> Next -> Continue -> Create
Insert the SUSE 12.2 DVD into the machine:

Click on the virtual machine "autoyast" -> Settings -> Storage -> IDE Controller -> add CD/DVD drive -> add the SUSE 12.2 DVD. Click on the + sign to add a floppy controller. Add the virtual floppy that we called floppy.img. It should look like this:

"Inserting" a virtual DVD and floppy into your virtual machine

Click OK and start the virtual machine. Select F12, then c to start from CD-ROM. In the boot screen, enter autoyast=floppy:

Your virtual machine starting from SUSE DVD using your autoyast floppy

Insert the USB stick into your physical computer. Use VirtualBox to attach the USB stick to the virtual machine. First, attach the "Generic Mass Storage Device", then your USB stick becomes visible (in this example it is the SanDisk Cruzer Blade). Select both so the virtual machine will be able to see the USB stick

Telling your virtual machine it has access to the USB stick

After selecting, type Enter and the installation will run unattendedly.

Final confirmation

Did I say unattendedly? Well, not quite. There will be one more window that asks you for confirmation like the above. And don't worry - the root password is set.

After installation, the system will try to reboot to do the initial configuration. This will fail because VirtualBox cannot boot from USB. However you can use the bootstick now.