YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) is a free, open-source tool from Pendrive Linux. It builds a USB flash drive that holds several bootable ISO and IMG files at once. YUMI keeps many systems and rescue discs on one stick and builds a startup menu to choose between them. The current YUMI Py edition runs on Windows and Linux; the older YUMI exFAT edition runs on Windows.
YUMI Py and YUMI exFAT
YUMI Py is a standalone Python build that shares one codebase across Windows and Linux, and it is where new work happens. YUMI exFAT is the Windows-only predecessor and is still supported. Both keep YUMI’s own interface on top of the Ventoy boot process. YUMI Py recognizes a drive already prepared with Ventoy, YUMI or Universal USB Installer. It can add images to that drive without touching what is already there. The older Legacy and UEFI builds are archived.
How the drive is prepared
On first use, YUMI formats the selected stick into two parts: a small FAT boot partition and a large storage volume for the images themselves. The storage volume uses exFAT by default. Because the storage side is not FAT32, a single ISO can exceed 4 GB. YUMI Py also offers NTFS and FAT32 for that volume, plus an option to leave unallocated space at the end of the drive for the user to format separately.
Choosing and organizing boot images
To add an item, the user picks a distribution or tool from YUMI’s list, browses to its ISO and writes it to the drive. YUMI puts each image in its own folder and rebuilds the menu. The list spans Ubuntu and its flavors, Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, Arch, Kali, Tails, Clonezilla, antivirus rescue disks, GParted, Memtest86+, Windows installers and WinPE. An “Unlisted” entry accepts images YUMI does not recognize.
Files can also be copied straight into the drive’s folders: ISO, IMG, WIM, VHD and VHDX, VDI and EFI files gain boot entries automatically. YUMI Py adds an Add Multiple tab for batch writes. Its Auto Download feature fetches current Linux releases directly onto the stick, and its Installed tab removes entries one by one. A separate Flash ISO/IMG mode writes a single image across the whole drive and erases everything else.
Persistence for live Linux
For supported Arch-, Fedora- and Ubuntu-based systems and several Debian-based ones, YUMI can attach persistent storage so settings and files survive a reboot. It does this with a loopback image file on the storage volume rather than a separate Linux partition. For official Debian Live images, YUMI creates the specially labeled persistence file and boot parameter that Debian expects.
Testing and network sharing in YUMI Py
YUMI Py can check a drive without rebooting. Test Boot opens the whole stick in VirtualBox or a single ISO in QEMU, discarding changes on exit. Install to VM installs a distribution into a persistent virtual disk kept on the drive. LAN Share serves installed ISOs to browsers on the local network through QEMU and noVNC. It has no login, so it suits trusted networks only. Advanced mode adds drive backup, restore and cloning.
Firmware and Secure Boot
One YUMI drive boots on both legacy BIOS and UEFI computers. Secure Boot uses the Ventoy key. The user enrolls this key in the machine’s MOK database on first boot. Whether a given image starts with Secure Boot on depends on that image. Building new Windows VHD or VHDX installs works only from Windows.
