Creating a Persistent Live USB of Linux Mint with Ventoy
Introduction
A persistent live USB lets you boot Linux Mint from a USB drive and keep your files, settings, and installed software across reboots. Unlike a standard live USB which resets every time you boot, a persistent setup remembers everything you do — making it essentially a portable Linux installation you can carry in your pocket.
Ventoy is the ideal tool for this. It lets you store multiple ISO files on a single USB drive and boot any of them. It also has built-in support for persistence, meaning you do not need to reflash the USB every time you want to use a different ISO or update Linux Mint.
What You Will Need
Before starting, gather the following.
- A USB drive with at least 16GB of storage (32GB or more recommended for a useful persistence partition)
- A Windows or Linux computer to set up the USB
- The latest Linux Mint ISO downloaded from https://linuxmint.com/download.php
- An internet connection
How Persistence Works in Ventoy
When you boot a live Linux session normally, all changes are written to RAM and lost when you shut down. Persistence works by creating a special file called a persistence image on the USB drive. Linux Mint mounts this file at boot and writes all changes into it instead of RAM. When you reboot, those changes are still there.
Ventoy manages this persistence file through its plugin system, which makes the whole process much simpler than older methods.
Step 1 — Download Ventoy
Go to https://www.ventoy.net/en/download.html and download the latest release for your operating system.
On Windows download the file ending in windows.zip. On Linux download the file ending in linux.tar.gz.
Extract the downloaded archive to a folder on your computer.
Step 2 — Install Ventoy to the USB Drive
On Windows
Open the extracted Ventoy folder and run Ventoy2Disk.exe as administrator by right-clicking it and selecting Run as administrator.
In the Ventoy2Disk window, select your USB drive from the Device dropdown. Double-check that you have selected the correct drive as this will erase everything on it.
Click Install and confirm when prompted. Ventoy will format the USB and install itself. This takes only a few seconds.
On Linux
Open a terminal and navigate to the extracted Ventoy folder.
cd ventoy-*
Find your USB drive device name using the following command.
lsblk
Your USB drive will appear as something like /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc. Make absolutely sure you identify the correct device before proceeding.
Run the installation script, replacing /dev/sdX with your actual USB device name.
sudo sh Ventoy2Disk.sh -i /dev/sdX
Confirm when prompted. Ventoy will install itself to the USB drive.
Step 3 — Understanding the Ventoy USB Structure
After installation your USB drive will have two partitions.
The first partition is a large FAT32 partition called ventoy. This is where you copy your ISO files and where Ventoy stores its configuration. The second partition is a small partition used by Ventoy internally. Do not modify or delete this partition.
Open the ventoy partition in your file manager. It will appear as a normal USB drive.
Step 4 — Copy the Linux Mint ISO
Copy the Linux Mint ISO file you downloaded directly into the root of the ventoy partition. You do not need to extract it or do anything special. Ventoy reads ISO files directly.
cp linuxmint-*.iso /media/your_user/ventoy/
Or simply drag and drop the ISO file into the ventoy partition using your file manager.
You can copy multiple ISOs to the same USB drive and Ventoy will list all of them at boot time.
Step 5 — Create the Persistence Configuration Folder
Ventoy uses a specific folder structure for its plugins and persistence configuration. Create the following folder structure on the ventoy partition.
On Windows create the folders manually using File Explorer.
ventoy\
ventoy\
ventoy.json
On Linux create the folders using the terminal.
mkdir -p /media/your_user/ventoy/ventoy
Step 6 — Create the Persistence Image File
The persistence image is a file that Linux Mint will use to store all your changes. You need to create this file and give it a size. Choose a size based on how much you plan to store.
2GB is the minimum and enough for basic use. 4GB to 8GB is comfortable for general use with some applications installed. 16GB or more is ideal if you plan to install many packages or store files.
On Linux
Use the following commands to create a 4GB persistence image file. Replace the path with the actual mount point of your ventoy partition.
cd /media/your_user/ventoy/
dd if=/dev/zero of=persistence.img bs=1M count=4096
mkfs.ext4 -L persistence persistence.img
The dd command creates the file filled with zeros. The mkfs.ext4 command formats it as an ext4 filesystem with the label persistence.
On Windows
Windows cannot natively create ext4 formatted files. The easiest approach is to use a tool called MiniTool Partition Wizard Free or to boot from the Ventoy USB into the Linux Mint live session first, then open a terminal and create the persistence file from there using the Linux commands above.
Alternatively, use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) if it is installed.
wsl
cd /mnt/your_ventoy_drive/
dd if=/dev/zero of=persistence.img bs=1M count=4096
mkfs.ext4 -L persistence persistence.img
Step 7 — Create the Ventoy Plugin Configuration File
Ventoy needs a configuration file to know which ISO should use which persistence image. Create a file called ventoy.json inside the ventoy folder on the ventoy partition.
The full path should be as follows.
ventoy partition / ventoy / ventoy.json
Open the file in a text editor and paste the following content. Replace the ISO filename with the exact name of your Linux Mint ISO file.
{
"persistence": [
{
"image": "/linuxmint-22-cinnamon-64bit.iso",
"backend": "/persistence.img"
}
]
}
Make sure the image field matches your ISO filename exactly, including the version number. Save the file.
Step 8 — Safely Eject the USB Drive
Before booting, safely eject the USB drive to make sure all files are written correctly.
On Windows right-click the drive in File Explorer and select Eject. On Linux run the following command, replacing the path with your actual mount point.
sudo umount /media/your_user/ventoy
Step 9 — Boot from the Ventoy USB
Insert the USB drive into the computer you want to run Linux Mint on and restart it. Access the boot menu by pressing the appropriate key for your hardware as it starts.
F12 works on most Dell and Lenovo machines. F9 works on HP machines. F8 works on some Asus machines.
Select your USB drive from the boot menu.
Step 10 — The Ventoy Boot Menu
Ventoy will display its boot menu listing all ISO files found on the drive. Use the arrow keys to highlight your Linux Mint ISO and press Enter.
Ventoy will then show a secondary menu asking how you want to boot.
Step 11 — Select Boot with Persistence
In the Ventoy secondary menu you will see the following options.
Boot in normal mode boots the live session without persistence. All changes are lost on shutdown. Boot with persistence boots the live session using your persistence image. All changes are saved between reboots.
Select Boot with persistence and press Enter.
Linux Mint will boot into its live Cinnamon desktop as normal.
Step 12 — Verify Persistence is Working
Once booted, open a terminal and check that the persistence partition is mounted correctly.
df -h
You should see your persistence image mounted at /run/live/persistence or similar, showing the size you allocated.
To test persistence, create a file on the desktop or install a small application.
sudo apt update && sudo apt install htop -y
Shut down the system, boot again with persistence selected, and confirm that the file and the installed application are still present.
Step 13 — Updating Linux Mint on a Persistent USB
Because your changes persist, you can update Linux Mint just like a normal installation.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
Keep in mind that kernel updates on a live persistent system can sometimes cause boot issues. It is generally safer to avoid upgrading the kernel on a persistent live USB and to focus on application updates instead.
Managing Multiple ISOs with Persistence
One of Ventoy's greatest strengths is that you can have multiple ISOs with separate persistence images on the same USB drive. For example you could have Linux Mint and Kali Linux each with their own persistence file.
Add additional entries to your ventoy.json file as follows.
{
"persistence": [
{
"image": "/linuxmint-22-cinnamon-64bit.iso",
"backend": "/persistence-mint.img"
},
{
"image": "/kali-linux-2024.1-installer-amd64.iso",
"backend": "/persistence-kali.img"
}
]
}
Create a separate persistence image file for each ISO using the same dd and mkfs.ext4 commands described earlier.
Updating Ventoy
When a new version of Ventoy is released you can update it without losing your ISOs or persistence files. Run Ventoy2Disk again on Windows or the shell script on Linux and select Update instead of Install. Your files on the ventoy partition will be untouched.
Troubleshooting
Persistence Option Not Appearing in Boot Menu
Double-check that the ventoy.json file is in the correct location at ventoy/ventoy.json on the ventoy partition. Make sure the image filename in the JSON matches your ISO filename exactly including capitalization. Validate your JSON at https://jsonlint.com to check for syntax errors such as missing commas or brackets.
Changes Not Saving Between Reboots
Confirm you selected Boot with persistence in the Ventoy secondary menu rather than normal mode. Check that the persistence image was formatted correctly as ext4 by booting into the live session and running the following command.
file persistence.img
The output should mention ext2 filesystem data which is how ext4 identifies itself in this tool.
USB Drive Not Booting
Make sure Secure Boot is disabled in your UEFI firmware settings if Ventoy fails to boot. Ventoy supports Secure Boot on newer versions but some firmware implementations are incompatible.
Not Enough Space for Persistence File
Use a larger USB drive or reduce the size of your persistence image. Remember that the ISO files themselves take up space too. A 32GB USB drive gives you plenty of room for multiple ISOs and large persistence files.
Persistence Image Full
If your persistence image fills up, you cannot easily resize it. The safest approach is to back up your important files, create a new larger persistence image using dd, and restore your files into the new image after mounting it.
Conclusion
A persistent live USB running Linux Mint through Ventoy gives you a portable, fully functional Linux environment that remembers everything you do. It is perfect for carrying your personal Linux setup between computers, testing software without affecting a host machine, or having a recovery environment that is always ready. With Ventoy managing your ISOs you can easily add more distributions to the same drive whenever you need them.