I wanna configure everything on LiveCD image on my USB Stick so i can plug it in into random computer in the city. And work as i was on my main PC. Is it risky? Yes, but i never forget my usb sticks so.
There any way to do this?
Need to mention: I use USB Stick with Ventoy, but i guess making different partition for settings is not a big deal.
It depends on the type of distro, as they can use different methods to decompress and run the read-only OS image used.
*buntu can be set up to have a persistence partition, where some settings can be stored and overlayed on top of the live OS image. It used to be a feature back in the day.
I highly doubt you can do this using Ventoy, but some USB creation tools offer this feature. I don’t recommend it for more than casual use, as the persistence can fill up with OS updates and the like, not all of which will always be restored. It can also drastically slow things down.
What you really want, if used regularly, is to physically install it to its own USB stick, as if it were a normal install.
i would recommend getting a external USB drive (the size of a thumb drive), and install a full linux OS onto that.
you can take that to any machine that will boot from a USB and have your full OS at your disposal.
I have both a very low profile Samsung USB stick I use specifically for this purpose - especially old Chromebooks with minimal emmc storage. I also have an nvme drive in an external drive case used for portable OS purposes.
The Samsung fits well enough on a keyring, but the cap is plastic, and I don’t trust it to hold up long in my pockets. I do keep a PNY all-metal stick with both USB-C and A ends with my keys, Ventoy installed.
I know USB Sticks costs literally pennies. But knowing how memory on them works… (i tried to use full system on my USB Stick, that was absolutely horrible and slow. But idk, maybe another one will work better)
Its better to stick along with LiveCD than fully installed system, BUT with some tweaks so i don’t have to reconfigure every time i launch into clean session. But knowing your answer - i would look at solution where i can create 3 partitions (2 already existing from Ventoy, and 1 for fully installed KDE Neon)
Yeah, sounds reasonable.
Huh, samsung storage is expansive. But to be fair, its the best ones to do those tasks as you said. I will look at this when i have some money on my back.
Okay update: My USB Stick is too slow to handle fully installed system. When i finished full install on it. It just take like 15 minutes just to show me error that it can’t load some actions, and then freeze PC.
So i have only one solution: Is to create persistent volume for saving data from livecd session. Any guide for ubuntu? (no cli please)
Not expensive, especially considering the better quality, speed and lifetime, which are quite important when running an OS from a USB thumb drive:
Like this one
Or this, though I can’t vouch for its longevity
Or this, which is a bit more bulky, and has been holding up in my pocket for quite a while now.
In my experience, cheaper sticks, even from good brands simply do not lost long, even with mild, casual usage as an OS drive. Mere weeks in some cases (Sandisk).
Just something to be aware of
Rufus iirc, and mkusb can do this. Look at Unetbootin, too.
I am sure there are others.
No idea if it works for neon ISO images for sure, but it should, since the ISO is Ubuntu based.
Update: Trying to use persistent volume (i created second volume alongside Ventoy preinstall). And seems like my USB Stick cannot handle any writting job))
Gonna try do this canonicly through Rufus or mkusb. Im pretty much run out of option to do this task. And this is sad, because when LiveCD loads in very freaking quick, it can’t manage any loads of data transfer if we gonna talk about everyday use when you are not at home.
If this is not gonna work (or work for some miracle), i will close topic soon.
Update: Flashed KDE Neon through rufus with 10GB Persistent Volume. And result is the same. Absolutely unusable, but why it does this thing at first place?
Im right now reformatting USB Stick with 1GB Persistent Volume, and gonna test the result. If it will work the same, welp. I tried 
But, i don’t understand why it tries to load likely EVERYTHING from the USB Drive, im pretty sure this is kind of unknown bug or something. Because it should not work like that.
Again, if i will load the image through Ventoy (iso file). Most likely it copying LiveCD session to RAM. So that why it load so fast, and most infuriating - it works absolutely FINE. No freezes, firefox loads instantly, apps installing fine, system just runs at max speeds.
But if i would do any actions with casper-rw. KDE Neon or most likely all Ubuntu based systems. Will sh1t themself in agony and pain trying to load something, something. And im unable to understand, why it works like that?
Like okay, i have 64 gig “generic usb stick” where 10 gigs is stripped for persistent volume. So i could install all apps i need. Because as i tried before - installing full system on this “generic usb stick” is not an option anymore. And somehow after trying to load into system with persistent volume. System just cannot load normally, like it tries to do everything only on USB, not RAM.
Idk what exactly LiveCD on linux works, but seems like this is abnormal, and should be reported somethere
Update: Tried all variants of Persistent Storage, but it doesn’t work. So i guess there only user-based apps that can save at least some confugiration and apps on folder? Because im really out of options there.
In all cases, time to load OS and even shell elements like Plasma and Install Window takes AGES, not to mention that first initialization takes lots of time too. So in total, just to load LiveCD session with Persistent Volume, i waited 25+ minutes! And at this stage KDE Neon is just unusable because everything takes forever to load.
If you have other suggestions, im open to it. I don’t wanna to take off this topic, because im believe that i can save OS configuration and applications in LiveCD Session, because again: Loading LiveCD Session is incredibly fast and responsive. If you, well, not using Persistent Storage on USB Stick, or install full system on it.
as long as you are running a live usb, you will not be able to save the state of the OS when you make changes to it because it is recreated each time you boot (including your /home where config files are stored).
you can use ventoy to set aside some storage space that you can use to keep a backup of of your .config folder, then copy that back to your live session each time you boot, but that seems like a pain in the ass and you will still need to reinstall any apps that do not come with the distro.
i still strongly suggest you buy an external SSD drive and install linux on it from the live session (which means you need to have both plugged in at the same time, which means you also may need a hub if you only have one usb port).
https://www.newegg.com/kingspec-z5-external-ssd-512gb/p/2CR-0015-00021
that way you have a full install of linux that you can customize to your needs and it will be portable to any machine you plug into.
Yes, i get, i have to buy a modern USB/External SSD to be able to use Linux with Persistent Storage. But in this case - i don’t have money to do it. Im searching for “free” solution because im already have a flash drive, even though it was not created for handling full OS installation.
I have some ideas about possible solutions, but it will need more time to search.
It’s your USB stick. It can read well enough, but doing both reads/writes is bogging it down. You do want something that is rated fast enough on both areas to be useful.
I went through this 8ish years ago. Most USB sticks are slow, even USB3 ones. More so when dealing with both reads and writes.
So a very good quality stick is needed
Or, a cheap 128Gb nvme + an inexpensive enclosure for the best performance and usability.
Still waiting for suggestions…
you can can use ventoy on the stick you have to make a small storage area where you can keep a copy of the .config folder.
then each time you use the stick you will need to copy back that folder to your live session and reinstall the software you added.
from then until the next time you reboot it will be as if you had a full install.