Is it possible to convert a live image on a USB to a running system on that same USB

[Terry Polzin]

To be clear, I don't want to install a disk device.

Basically I need a procedure to

- Remove the livecd user and disable auto login.
   - Keep grub intact on the USB and write it's updates there.

I'm perfectly happy booting the USB via the BIOS.  I am currently testing
with the XFCE-live image.

Thanks for any pointers.

[Michal Schorm]

Hello Terry,

If I understood you correctly, you want to do some modifications to
the LiveOS image.

On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 12:56 AM Terry Polzin  wrote:
> To be clear, I don't want to install a disk device.

I'd argue that the operating system installed persistently to the USB
drive by some custom method ensuring only some minimal requested set
of packages is installed would be a better option for most use cases,
also allowing to upgrade the OS to the latest version.
It should also be possible to set up the system in such a way that any
unwanted changes to the system are not saved between reboots.
However I understood from your sentence above that you don't want to
take this approach.
> Thanks for any pointers.

There is a way to make a custom bootable live image of Fedora.
Every few months someone on these mailing lists asks about it.
You might want to check Fedora mailing list archives for that.

I also found this page that might help you:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/LiveOS_image/overlay
Though I'm not sure how up-to-date it is.

In general, I'd suggest 'LiveOS' and 'SquashFS' as keywords for your search.

--

Michal Schorm
Software Engineer
Core Services - Databases Team
Red Hat

--

On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 12:56 AM Terry Polzin  wrote:
> To be clear, I don't want to install a disk device.
>
> Basically I need a procedure to
>
> Remove the livecd user and disable auto login.
> Keep grub intact on the USB and write it's updates there.
>
> I'm perfectly happy booting the USB via the BIOS.  I am currently testing with the XFCE-live image.
>
> Thanks for any pointers.
>
> users mailing list -- [e-mail]
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[Barry]

> On 4 Sep 2022, at 23:56, Terry Polzin  wrote:
>
> 
> To be clear, I don't want to install a disk device.
>
> Basically I need a procedure to
>
> Remove the livecd user and disable auto login.
> Keep grub intact on the USB and write it's updates there.
> I'm perfectly happy booting the USB via the BIOS.  I am currently testing with the XFCE-live image.
>
> Thanks for any pointers.

No you cannot do it in place.

But what you can do is install from the live image to a 2nd usb stick.

Barry
> users mailing list -- [e-mail]
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[Terry Polzin]

Barry,

I tried that, the installer only seems to consider devices it detects as
hard drives.

On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 5:57 PM Barry  wrote:
> On 4 Sep 2022, at 23:56, Terry Polzin  wrote:
>
> 
> To be clear, I don't want to install a disk device.
>
> Basically I need a procedure to
> Remove the livecd user and disable auto login.
> Keep grub intact on the USB and write it's updates there.
>
> I'm perfectly happy booting the USB via the BIOS.  I am currently testing
> with the XFCE-live image.
>
> Thanks for any pointers.
>
> No you cannot do it in place.
>
> But what you can do is install from the live image to a 2nd usb stick.
>
> Barry
>
> users mailing list -- [e-mail]
> To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]
> Fedora Code of Conduct:
> https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/
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>
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[Barry]

> On 6 Sep 2022, at 02:26, Terry Polzin  wrote:
>
> 
> Barry,
>
> I tried that, the installer only seems to consider devices it detects as hard drives.

Hmmm, I ended up using a usb 3 portable ssd in the end as my emergency recovery solution.

But that was because the usb stick was very slow I recall, maybe I am not recalling the reason correctly.

Are both usb present when you boot up? Maybe the installer will not allow the use of a usb stick that is installed after boot?

Barry
> > On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 5:57 PM Barry  wrote:
> > > > On 4 Sep 2022, at 23:56, Terry Polzin  wrote:
> > >
> > > 
> > > To be clear, I don't want to install a disk device.
> > >
> > > Basically I need a procedure to
> > >
> > > Remove the livecd user and disable auto login.
> > > Keep grub intact on the USB and write it's updates there.
> > > I'm perfectly happy booting the USB via the BIOS.  I am currently testing with the XFCE-live image.
> > >
> > > Thanks for any pointers.
> >
> > No you cannot do it in place.
> >
> > But what you can do is install from the live image to a 2nd usb stick.
> >
> > Barry
> > > users mailing list -- [e-mail]
> > > To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]
> > > Fedora Code of Conduct: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/
> > > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> > > List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[e-mail]
> > > Do not reply to spam, report it: https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/new_issue
> >
> > users mailing list -- [e-mail]
> > To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]
> > Fedora Code of Conduct: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/
> > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
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>
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[George N. White III]

On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 10:25 PM Terry Polzin  wrote:
> Barry,
>
> I tried that, the installer only seems to consider devices it detects as
> hard drives.

I have often installed Linux on USB memory "sticks".   Boot the Live Linux
installer and check the status of the USB stick with "Disks".   I have often
used Linux installs on USB sticks to rescue data from non-booting Windows
boxes, but now you can get external USB-C cases that hold NVME drives, and
cheap 128GB NVME left over after a larger drive was installed.  These are
much
faster than USB sticks.

[ja]

On Tue, 2022-09-06 at 07:13 -0300, George N. White III wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 10:25 PM Terry Polzin  wrote:
> > Barry,
> >
> > I tried that, the installer only seems to consider devices it detects as hard drives.
>
> I have often installed Linux on USB memory "sticks".   Boot the Live Linux
> installer and check the status of the USB stick with "Disks".   I have often
> used Linux installs on USB sticks to rescue data from non-booting Windows
> boxes, but now you can get external USB-C cases that hold NVME drives, and
> cheap 128GB NVME left over after a larger drive was installed.  These are much
> faster than USB sticks.

Ditto re using USB sticks/USB "cases" for installation of Linux.
I have found the "Plugable" USB 3.1 Gen 2 NVMe SSD Enclosure very good.
John

[Terry Polzin]

This did work installing the live image to an M2 NVME.

Thanks for all the responses.

On Tue, Sep 6, 2022 at 6:27 AM ja  wrote:
> On Tue, 2022-09-06 at 07:13 -0300, George N. White III wrote:
> > On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 10:25 PM Terry Polzin  wrote:
> > > Barry,
> > >
> > > I tried that, the installer only seems to consider devices it detects
>
> as hard drives.
> > >
> >
> > I have often installed Linux on USB memory "sticks".   Boot the Live
>
> Linux
> > installer and check the status of the USB stick with "Disks".   I have
>
> often
> > used Linux installs on USB sticks to rescue data from non-booting Windows
> > boxes, but now you can get external USB-C cases that hold NVME drives,
>
> and
> > cheap 128GB NVME left over after a larger drive was installed.  These
>
> are much
> > faster than USB sticks.
>
> Ditto re using USB sticks/USB "cases" for installation of Linux.
> I have found the "Plugable" USB 3.1 Gen 2 NVMe SSD Enclosure very good.
> John
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[George N. White III]

On Wed, Sep 7, 2022 at 5:17 PM Terry Polzin  wrote:
> This did work installing the live image to an M2 NVME.

I'm not sure if this means your NVME boots the LiveFedora system or
you actually installed Fedora on the NVME.  Is the NVME in a USB case
or installed in an internal "slot", thus avoiding USB.  Clarification would
be appreciated.

[Terry Polzin]

Sorry, Live ISO was installed on the NVME which is in an external case and
connects to USB

On Wed, Sep 7, 2022 at 4:51 PM George N. White III  wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 7, 2022 at 5:17 PM Terry Polzin  wrote:
> > This did work installing the live image to an M2 NVME.
>
> I'm not sure if this means your NVME boots the LiveFedora system or
> you actually installed Fedora on the NVME.  Is the NVME in a USB case
> or installed in an internal "slot", thus avoiding USB.  Clarification would
> be appreciated.
>
> --
> George N. White III
>
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