[ale] anyone installed linux on to a flash drive

[Narahari 'n' Savitha]

What is the diff between putting a live cd on a usb stick vs installing
linux on usb stick ?

The putting live cd is easy since there are tools like pendrivelinux or
unetbootin which I have done.  (Puppy has driver issues with Wireless
although I like Puppy due to less foot print)

The installing of Linux on a Flash Drive may work better since the data and
apps are persisted (example I can put Firefox15 and it stays there).

-Narahari

On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 1:13 PM, Michael H. Warfield <mhw at wittsend.com>wrote:
>
>> Wow...  And I'm suppose to give a talk on my "multiboot" keys sooner or
>> later...  Reminder to self...
>>
>> Yeah, I've done this...  I have a pair of 64G USB keys (always have a
>> backup if you are going to do this).  It's a multiboot key using a
>> custom rolled grub2 configuration (which would be what my talk would be
>> about)...
>>
>> What's on that key (in order)...
>>
>> * Boot Images for my encrypted laptop (3 most recent kernel images).
>>
>> * Chainloaders to drive 1 and 2 of the system.
>>
>> * OpenClient (and IBM customized RHEL image) run live and testdrive
>> images...
>>
>> * CentOS 6 desktop run live.
>>
>> * Fedora 15, 16, and 17 Desktop run lives for i686 and x86_64.
>>
>> * Network Security Toolkit 2.16 (various configurations).
>>
>> * Parted Magic.
>>
>> * Ubuntu
>>
>> * Backtrack (another forensic related distro).
>>
>> * TinyCore (minimalist busybox based distro).
>>
>> All totaled, probably a couple dozen menu entries including sub-menus
>> and what not.
>>
>> Takes a little over 1/2 of that 64G key including persistent image store
>> and a common encrypted home directory.
>>
>> Why?  It's my Swiss Army Knife.  I can (have to) boot my totally
>> encrypted laptop from the key.  No key - no boot.  End of discussion.
>> In addition, I can walk up to any computer and boot the computer from
>> any one of my boot selections and have a run live for demonstration or
>> for forensic purposes.
>>
>> It's actually pretty easy to install a run-live to a USB key with a
>> persistent store for updates and a home partition for use.  We typically
>> refer to these as a "Computer On A Stick".  Building a multiboot that
>> works like that (ESPECIALLY if you have a common home) is a lot tricker
>> but grub2 makes it easier than syslinux or the old grub.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Mike
>>
>> On Sun, 2012-09-30 at 10:02 -0400, Narahari 'n' Savitha wrote:
>> > Friends:
>> >
>> > I want to install Linux on to a flash drive.
>> >
>> > Has anyone in the ALE family done this ?
>> >
>> > When I install Linux on to a Flash drive, does it mean that I can take
>> it
>> > from machine to machine or is it specific to the hardware that I
>> installed
>> > for ?
>> >
>> > What about taking the flash drive out and plugging it back to the same
>> > machine, that should be doable right ?  I am trying to use this as an
>> > alternate os at work on the same hardware.
>> >
>> > What is the diff between installing the OS on a Flash drive vs running
>> Live
>> > CD (Puppy or Linux Mint that saves data) ?
>> >
>> > My Flash drive is 2GB and I am not sure if Arch can be installed there
>> with
>> > XFace.
>> >
>> > Is it feasible to do so ?
>> >
>> > I would like all kinds of comments to help out.
>> >
>> > -Narahari
>> >
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>>
>> --
>> Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
>>    /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932 |
>> http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
>>    NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the best of
>> all
>>  PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of it!
>>
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>
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