DD

dd if= of=

if

  • /dev/sdb1
  • /dev/fd0
  • file.img
  • /dev/zero
  • /dev/urandom

    • of

  • /dev/sdb1
  • /dev/fd0
  • file.img
  • /dev/null

    • Exceptions

You can pipe data in and out of DD and bypass the need of IF/OF.

dd if=file.txt | do something

do something | dd of=file.txt

bs

Block size, default 512. use power of 2, upping may give better perfs.

count

Copy only count=x input blocks.

skip

Skipped skip=x input block (can help you leap over a bootloader).

seek

Skipped seek=x output block (can help you leap over a bootloader).

status=progress

Allows you to see the progress of the transfer.

conv

Conversion argument allows... conversions:

noerror

Continue after read errors.

sync

Should be used with files as it makes sure that the final block is fully written.

notrunc

Only used when outputing to file, prevents overwriting the output file.

Sources

https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?threadid=362506