How to burn a DVD on macOS

Tutorials
1
Key Value
Summary Instructions on how to burn an Ubuntu installation DVD on macOS.
Categories desktop
Difficulty 2
Author Canonical Web Team webteam@canonical.com

Overview

To create an Ubuntu installation DVD on macOS, you will need the following:

  • An Ubuntu ISO file. Download the Ubuntu of your choice from here
  • A blank DVD

ⓘ Ensuring the authenticity of an Ubuntu ISO
The download can be verified to ensure the data integrity and authenticity of the file.

Select the Ubuntu ISO

Duration: 1:00

The easiest way to burn an Ubuntu ISO – the file you just downloaded – on a DVD, is by right clicking on the file in the Finder.

  • Right click on the Ubuntu .iso file
  • Select the ‘Burn Disk Image’ option

screenshot

ⓘ In versions of macOS older than 10.5 (Leopard), there is no “Burn Disk Image” option and you should use Disk Utility or Disk Copy to burn the ISO.

Insert a blank DVD

Duration: 1:00

Click the ‘Burn’ button on the dialog menu

screenshot

Burn and verify the DVD

Duration: 10:00

The data will be burned and verified.

screenshot

Next steps and finding help

Next, to install Ubuntu, try the Install Ubuntu desktop tutorial

If you get stuck, help is always at hand.

2

It seems the latest macOS doesn’t support this process anymore in any intuitive way. I am on a 2019 MBP pro with macOS Catalina 10.15.3 (19D76) and had to try several different downloads because the story from Apple when opening this file is that it is damaged, and then that there are no mountable systems. Not to source Reddit on the matter, but here’s a post highlighting the issue for us.

I am using an Apple SuperDrive with Firmware Revision: 2.03 and I could not get a blank DVD to mount using Disk Utility or Finder. I was able to burn the iso successfully after referencing this link with the command:

hdiutil burn ~/Downloads/ubuntu-20.04-desktop-amd64.iso

I just wanted to share in case anyone else runs into similar issues trying to make a Live CD from ISO!

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