[ale] anyone installed linux on to a flash drive

[Michael H. Warfield]

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
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