Disk Image Management

A disk image is a copy of the entire contents of a storage device. Disk images are commonly used to create operating system installers or clone a disk.

Etcher

Etcher is a simple, multi-platform application to write images. Its free and you can download pre-made installers for Mac, Linux and Windows directly from their homepage. They also include a guide on their github repository readme for installing via the following:

Feature	Compatibility
Compatibility	Linux x64/x86 (AppImage) Mac OS X x64 Windows x86/x64 (Installer/Portable)
Compatibility	Debian and Ubuntu based Package Repository (GNU/Linux x86/x64) Redhat (RHEL) and Fedora based Package Repository (GNU/Linux x86/x64) Solus (GNU/Linux x64) Brew Cask (macOS) Chocolatey (Windows)
Cost	Paid (trial/standard/pro)
Read	✔
Write	✔
Shrink/Expand	✔

dd (Disk Duplication)

dd is a CLI utility which reads and writes raw data. It comes with Linux and Mac OS X. You must be careful with this utility as there is no warnings should you make a mistake.

Feature	Compatibility
Compatibility	Linux Mac OS X
Cost	Pre-Installed
Read	✔
Write	✔
Shrink/Expand	✘

Usage

diskutil

Display statistics about the filesystem.
- Linux: $ lsblk
- Mac OS X: $ diskutil list
Use dd to read or output a disk/image.

Command	Description
`$ dd if=/dev/disk1 of=/dev/disk2`	Read disk1, output disk2.
`$ dd if=~/disk.img of=/dev/disk1`	Read ~/disk.img, output disk1.
`$ dd if=/dev/disk1 of=~/disk.img`	Read disk1, output ~/disk.img.

GParted

Feature	Compatibility
Compatibility	Live i686/amd64 Debian Fedora Mageia OpenSUSE Ubuntu
Cost	Free
Read	✘
Write	✘
Shrink/Expand	✔

guide soon to come

SD Clone

SD Clone works on all kinds of disks, not just SD cards.

Feature	Compatibility
Compatibility	Mac OS X 10.12+
Cost	Paid (trial/standard/pro)
Read	✔
Write	✔
Shrink/Expand	✔

Win32 Disk Imager

Feature	Compatibility
Compatibility	Windows 7/8.1/10 Windows Server 2008/2012/2016 Windows XP/Vista (v0.9)
Cost	Free
Read	✔
Write	✔
Shrink/Expand	✘