Hi,
I'm reading documentation [1] for Fedora on a USB stick. The only option to have a portable fedora on a stick seems to be by creating an overlay FS and this certainly leads to getting out of disk space at some point.
I would really like to create Fedora on USB that I can plug anywhere and work off it.
I was thinking that perhaps I can just install regular fedora on a USB stick like I would do on a hard drive. Then it can be updated and used just like any other Fedora machine. Perhaps disable persistent logging and swap so that flash memory doesn't wear out.
One issue I presently know about is dracut. It creates by default images that only support a specific hardware. i.e. if I install kernel on a machine with an nforce disk controller, it will put in intird only that module thus Fedora will not boot on a machine with AHCI controller.
Maybe this wouldn't matter when all things are on the USB drive but then can there be a problem with different USB controller modules?
I was wondering if anybody tried that and has tips for greated portability.
Thank you, Aleksandar
[1] https://docs.fedoraproject.org/quick-docs/en-US/creating-and-using-a-live-in...
On Mon, 2018-04-23 at 17:20 +0300, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
Hi,
I'm reading documentation [1] for Fedora on a USB stick. The only option to have a portable fedora on a stick seems to be by creating an overlay FS and this certainly leads to getting out of disk space at some point.
I would really like to create Fedora on USB that I can plug anywhere and work off it.
I was thinking that perhaps I can just install regular fedora on a USB stick like I would do on a hard drive. Then it can be updated and used just like any other Fedora machine. Perhaps disable persistent logging and swap so that flash memory doesn't wear out.
One issue I presently know about is dracut. It creates by default images that only support a specific hardware. i.e. if I install kernel on a machine with an nforce disk controller, it will put in intird only that module thus Fedora will not boot on a machine with AHCI controller.
Maybe this wouldn't matter when all things are on the USB drive but then can there be a problem with different USB controller modules?
I was wondering if anybody tried that and has tips for greated portability.
Thank you, Aleksandar
I have been doing this for several years, currently F27, but only as a recovery Stick. I just do a standard install but use a custom disk layout using ext4 / partition - no LMV. gdisk -l /dev/sda Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 1026047 500.0 MiB EF00 EFI System 2 1026048 1028095 1024.0 KiB EF02 BIOS boot partition 3 1028096 3125247 1024.0 MiB 8300 Linux filesystem 4 3125248 19902463 8.0 GiB 8200 Linux swap 5 19902464 61800414 20.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem
I have recently been using a Corsair GT 32GB stick
This one would be much better 128GB Corsair Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A Pendrive, Black, 460MB/s Read, 460MB/s Write, 33k/40k IOPS, PC/Mac £67.99
My Fedora notes say this - not certain it is still valid - but I did it for F27. dnf install dracut-config-generic - To force a generic initramfs This installs a single file /usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/02-generic-image.conf hostonly="no"
I have not done the following - I waited for a kernel update. To force an existing kernel to use a "fully configured" initramfs file then dracut --regenerate-all --force NB this will regenerate and over-write all /boot/initramfs* file Make copies first if required
John
On 04/23/2018 10:28 AM, ja wrote:
My Fedora notes say this - not certain it is still valid - but I did it for F27. dnf install dracut-config-generic - To force a generic initramfs This installs a single file /usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/02-generic-image.conf hostonly="no"
This is the important point if you want to boot this image on multiple computers. This makes all the initramfs files that dracut creates to be equivalent to the "rescue" version, meaning that they have all the kernel modules instead of just the ones for the system it was installed on.
On 23/04/2018 20:10, Samuel Sieb wrote:
This makes all the initramfs files that dracut creates to be equivalent to the "rescue" version, meaning that they have all the kernel modules instead of just the ones for the system it was installed on.
Does making the kernel equivalent to the "rescue" kernel also mean that all the different wireless firmwares are immediately available, for current, and historic, Eth and WiFi electronics that might be needed for when using a "portable" Fedora? I'm especially thinking about using on older laptops or PCs where various plugin cards (PCMCIA, Cardbus, EISA, PCI, which often seem to have employed widely-used electronics) might be encountered?
Sounds useful, if possible.
Ron
ja wrote on 04/23/18 20:28:
On Mon, 2018-04-23 at 17:20 +0300, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
Hi,
I'm reading documentation [1] for Fedora on a USB stick. The only option to have a portable fedora on a stick seems to be by creating an overlay FS and this certainly leads to getting out of disk space at some point.
I would really like to create Fedora on USB that I can plug anywhere and work off it.
I was thinking that perhaps I can just install regular fedora on a USB stick like I would do on a hard drive. Then it can be updated and used just like any other Fedora machine. Perhaps disable persistent logging and swap so that flash memory doesn't wear out.
One issue I presently know about is dracut. It creates by default images that only support a specific hardware. i.e. if I install kernel on a machine with an nforce disk controller, it will put in intird only that module thus Fedora will not boot on a machine with AHCI controller.
Maybe this wouldn't matter when all things are on the USB drive but then can there be a problem with different USB controller modules?
I was wondering if anybody tried that and has tips for greated portability.
Thank you, Aleksandar
I have been doing this for several years, currently F27, but only as a recovery Stick. I just do a standard install but use a custom disk layout using ext4 / partition - no LMV. gdisk -l /dev/sda Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 1026047 500.0 MiB EF00 EFI System 2 1026048 1028095 1024.0 KiB EF02 BIOS boot partition 3 1028096 3125247 1024.0 MiB 8300 Linux filesystem 4 3125248 19902463 8.0 GiB 8200 Linux swap 5 19902464 61800414 20.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystemI have recently been using a Corsair GT 32GB stick
Thanks a lot for the tip! I am also planning to start with a 32GB USB 3.0 stick. It looks like though that you are having EFI and BIOS mode both supported. Would you share how did you achieve it?
This one would be much better 128GB Corsair Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A Pendrive, Black, 460MB/s Read, 460MB/s Write, 33k/40k IOPS, PC/Mac £67.99
My Fedora notes say this - not certain it is still valid - but I did it for F27. dnf install dracut-config-generic - To force a generic initramfs This installs a single file /usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/02-generic-image.conf hostonly="no"
I have not done the following - I waited for a kernel update. To force an existing kernel to use a "fully configured" initramfs file then dracut --regenerate-all --force NB this will regenerate and over-write all /boot/initramfs* file Make copies first if required
John _______________________________________________ users mailing list -- users@lists.fedoraproject.org To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@lists.fedoraproject.org
On Mon, 2018-04-23 at 23:52 +0300, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
ja wrote on 04/23/18 20:28:
On Mon, 2018-04-23 at 17:20 +0300, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
Hi,
I'm reading documentation [1] for Fedora on a USB stick. The only option to have a portable fedora on a stick seems to be by creating an overlay FS and this certainly leads to getting out of disk space at some point.
I would really like to create Fedora on USB that I can plug anywhere and work off it.
I was thinking that perhaps I can just install regular fedora on a USB stick like I would do on a hard drive. Then it can be updated and used just like any other Fedora machine. Perhaps disable persistent logging and swap so that flash memory doesn't wear out.
One issue I presently know about is dracut. It creates by default images that only support a specific hardware. i.e. if I install kernel on a machine with an nforce disk controller, it will put in intird only that module thus Fedora will not boot on a machine with AHCI controller.
Maybe this wouldn't matter when all things are on the USB drive but then can there be a problem with different USB controller modules?
I was wondering if anybody tried that and has tips for greated portability.
Thank you, Aleksandar
I have been doing this for several years, currently F27, but only as a recovery Stick. I just do a standard install but use a custom disk layout using ext4 / partition - no LMV. gdisk -l /dev/sda Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 1026047 500.0 MiB EF00 EFI System 2 1026048 1028095 1024.0 KiB EF02 BIOS boot partition 3 1028096 3125247 1024.0 MiB 8300 Linux filesystem 4 3125248 19902463 8.0 GiB 8200 Linux swap 5 19902464 61800414 20.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystemI have recently been using a Corsair GT 32GB stick
Thanks a lot for the tip! I am also planning to start with a 32GB USB 3.0 stick. It looks like though that you are having EFI and BIOS mode both supported. Would you share how did you achieve it?
I usually pre-format SSD's, sticks with a "standard" partition layout using gdisk before installing Fedora. This was it for this stick - "BIOS" & "EFI" boot partitions.
All my machines have compatibility mode for booting.
F27 was installed on this stick on a machine with EFI but "BIOS" mode was selected/forced during installation.
I have just re-tested the stick It will boot on a 10 year old laptop with dual AMD Althon & only USB2. Also on Intel i7-6700K machine using "BIOS" mode.
John
Hi and thanks for all replies.
The `dracut-config-generic` package did the job with Fedora 28. I'm actually building this for a non-technical person. What I did was:
* install on stick with netinst fedora image (BIOS mode) * choose XFCE desktop * choose basic layout (without LVM) with ~20GB root partition ** remove flash partition ** create VFAT partition for sharing files with windows (make it first partition [*]) * install dracut-config-generic, codecs and VLC * rebuild initramfs * set uid=<target_user> in fstab for the VFAT partition * link Documents, Pictures, etc. to the VFAT partition ** disable Firefox disk cache (about:config -> browser.cache.disk) [**] ** make locked memory for target user unlimited in limits.d/memlock.conf (default fedora limit might be reasonable for a server but not for a workstation)
It looks and works pretty descent. Presently installing on a 32GB USB 3.0 stick. If said user likes the setup I'll recommend switching to an external SSD/NVMe.
Thanks again and have fun!
[**] Without removing FF disk cache youtube videos have been cutting out like crazy and data constantly being written to the stick.
[*] I had only one issue. When I put stick into windows 7 it shows "disk f:" and asks me to format it. It didn't show the VFAT partition because it is third partition in the MBR. I had to use fdisk to just change partition numbers. Then boot with install CD in rescue mode to chroot into the system, then `grub2-mkconfig > /etc/grub2.cfg` and `grub2-install /dev/sdX`.
[1] https://superuser.com/questions/400560/windows-7-doesnt-recognize-second-par...
ja wrote on 04/24/18 11:30:
On Mon, 2018-04-23 at 23:52 +0300, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
ja wrote on 04/23/18 20:28:
On Mon, 2018-04-23 at 17:20 +0300, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
Hi,
I'm reading documentation [1] for Fedora on a USB stick. The only option to have a portable fedora on a stick seems to be by creating an overlay FS and this certainly leads to getting out of disk space at some point.
I would really like to create Fedora on USB that I can plug anywhere and work off it.
I was thinking that perhaps I can just install regular fedora on a USB stick like I would do on a hard drive. Then it can be updated and used just like any other Fedora machine. Perhaps disable persistent logging and swap so that flash memory doesn't wear out.
One issue I presently know about is dracut. It creates by default images that only support a specific hardware. i.e. if I install kernel on a machine with an nforce disk controller, it will put in intird only that module thus Fedora will not boot on a machine with AHCI controller.
Maybe this wouldn't matter when all things are on the USB drive but then can there be a problem with different USB controller modules?
I was wondering if anybody tried that and has tips for greated portability.
Thank you, Aleksandar
I have been doing this for several years, currently F27, but only as a recovery Stick. I just do a standard install but use a custom disk layout using ext4 / partition - no LMV. gdisk -l /dev/sda Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 1026047 500.0 MiB EF00 EFI System 2 1026048 1028095 1024.0 KiB EF02 BIOS boot partition 3 1028096 3125247 1024.0 MiB 8300 Linux filesystem 4 3125248 19902463 8.0 GiB 8200 Linux swap 5 19902464 61800414 20.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystemI have recently been using a Corsair GT 32GB stick
Thanks a lot for the tip! I am also planning to start with a 32GB USB 3.0 stick. It looks like though that you are having EFI and BIOS mode both supported. Would you share how did you achieve it?
I usually pre-format SSD's, sticks with a "standard" partition layout using gdisk before installing Fedora. This was it for this stick - "BIOS" & "EFI" boot partitions.
All my machines have compatibility mode for booting.
F27 was installed on this stick on a machine with EFI but "BIOS" mode was selected/forced during installation.
I have just re-tested the stick It will boot on a 10 year old laptop with dual AMD Althon & only USB2. Also on Intel i7-6700K machine using "BIOS" mode.
John _______________________________________________ users mailing list -- users@lists.fedoraproject.org To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@lists.fedoraproject.org
Hi,
On 23-04-18 16:20, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
Hi,
I'm reading documentation [1] for Fedora on a USB stick. The only option to have a portable fedora on a stick seems to be by creating an overlay FS and this certainly leads to getting out of disk space at some point.
I would really like to create Fedora on USB that I can plug anywhere and work off it.
I was thinking that perhaps I can just install regular fedora on a USB stick like I would do on a hard drive. Then it can be updated and used just like any other Fedora machine. Perhaps disable persistent logging and swap so that flash memory doesn't wear out.
One issue I presently know about is dracut. It creates by default images that only support a specific hardware. i.e. if I install kernel on a machine with an nforce disk controller, it will put in intird only that module thus Fedora will not boot on a machine with AHCI controller.
Maybe this wouldn't matter when all things are on the USB drive but then can there be a problem with different USB controller modules?
I was wondering if anybody tried that and has tips for greated portability.
Just installing to an USB stick instead of running a live iso from the USB stick will work. But USB sticks tend to be slow, someone else in the thread already gave some tips for some better performing USB sticks, but if you're going to spend some money on the hardware side I've a different suggestion:
I often carry an extra Fedora install with me on a m2 sata SSD in an usb enclosure like this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/JEYI-R8-TYPE-C-USB3-0-USB3-0-m-2-NGFF-SSD-Mo...
Or if you want 10Gbps USB-3.1 gen2:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/M-2-B-Key-SSD-to-USB-3-1-Type-C-Enclosure-Ca...
This will allow you to use any m2 *SATA* SSD of your choice, and these are often a whole lot faster then USB sticks.
Regards,
Hans
On 04/23/2018 07:20 AM, Aleksandar Kostadinov wrote:
Hi,
I'm reading documentation [1] for Fedora on a USB stick. The only option to have a portable fedora on a stick seems to be by creating an overlay FS and this certainly leads to getting out of disk space at some point.
I would really like to create Fedora on USB that I can plug anywhere and work off it.
I was thinking that perhaps I can just install regular fedora on a USB stick like I would do on a hard drive. Then it can be updated and used just like any other Fedora machine. Perhaps disable persistent logging and swap so that flash memory doesn't wear out.
One issue I presently know about is dracut. It creates by default images that only support a specific hardware. i.e. if I install kernel on a machine with an nforce disk controller, it will put in intird only that module thus Fedora will not boot on a machine with AHCI controller.
Maybe this wouldn't matter when all things are on the USB drive but then can there be a problem with different USB controller modules?
I was wondering if anybody tried that and has tips for greated portability.
Thank you, Aleksandar
[1] https://docs.fedoraproject.org/quick-docs/en-US/creating-and-using-a-live-in...
I carry around a 240 GB SSD in a USB 3.1 carrier with FC 28 Beta on it. It use to have FC27 on it, but I upgraded. It took all night.
As far as speed goes, it operated much slower than native Fedora, but it operates somewhat faster than native Windows "I Can't Count" (w10), which always amuses me.
I use it to rescue Windows machines and to administer networks. (Linux has all the cool tools.)
I adore carrying around my own operating system. And one that works well to boot.
The one thing I don't like is that it will only boot off of EUFI.
Anyone know how to get it to dual boot off of legacy BIOS as well as EUFI?
I was originally trying to get Fedora-on-a-stick working with a USB 3.0 stick w/ a 32GB Class 10 SD card.
The performance with a "standard" install was not acceptable and updates took WAAAAAYYYY too long.
Since the performance using the live method with a compressed image was WAY better I was trying to find a way to use the live type install with overlay-fs (or an alternative) and then have a way to take all the deltas in the overlay-fs file and commit them back into the main image file on occasion, but the tools aren't really "there" yet and it was very cumbersome.
I think M.2 + USB 3.0/3.1 is the way to go but it is a lot bigger than my tiny USB 3.0 w/ microSD card setup.
Thanks, Richard
On 04/26/2018 06:56 AM, Richard Shaw wrote:
I was originally trying to get Fedora-on-a-stick working with a USB 3.0 stick w/ a 32GB Class 10 SD card.
The performance with a "standard" install was not acceptable and updates took WAAAAAYYYY too long.
Since the performance using the live method with a compressed image was WAY better I was trying to find a way to use the live type install with overlay-fs (or an alternative) and then have a way to take all the deltas in the overlay-fs file and commit them back into the main image file on occasion, but the tools aren't really "there" yet and it was very cumbersome.
I think M.2 + USB 3.0/3.1 is the way to go but it is a lot bigger than my tiny USB 3.0 w/ microSD card setup.
Thanks, Richard
I still use the Live USB on USB 3 sticks. My SATA SSD USB 3.1 carrier boots a lot faster. Both still beat native Windows, even on USB 2.
M.2 SATA sticks are a bit skinnier than standard 2.5" SATA carriers, but I haven't notices a problem with the 2.5" as they are flat and fit nicely in my briefcase. Also, the USB-C connector (I have lots of adapter) comes in handy too.
Have not found a M.2 NVMe to USB 3.x carrier.
I find the Live USB to be a pain-in-the-a** as you really can't customize them much. Each time you add something, even though you remove it later, it doesn't give you back the space. And you fill up really fast.
Plus, for some reason, they corrupt a lot. I have mainly traced this back to something Windows does to them when you insert them in a running machine. (I have since disciplined myself to only insert them into a powered off Windows machine.)
Now to figure out how to get my USB 3.1 drive to boot off both legacy BIOS and EUFI.
On somewhat of a tangent... I wonder if Fedora Atomic Workstation would be useful for portable Fedora? I would probably fix the problem of updating packages taking forever on Flash memory...
Downloading now...
Richard
-
Aleksandar Kostadinov -
Hans de Goede -
ja -
Richard Shaw -
Ron Leach -
Samuel Sieb -
ToddAndMargo