[arch-general] creating an archlinux usb key with persistence

[Rashif Ray Rahman]

On 13 March 2014 11:09, Don Raikes <DON.RAIKES at oracle.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
>
> Are there instructions for creating an archlinux usb key with persistence somewhere?
>
>
>
> I want to use my archlinux usb key as a diagnostic tool, and sometimes it is helpful to save files to it for later review.
>
>
>
> Any info would be appreciated.
>
> BTW: I am planning on using a 64gb usb key for this endeavor.

As far as I am aware, there is no official documentation, support or
tool for this. I've also had a frugal install on my personal TODO for
several years now but never got around to it. [1]

Support for persistence needs to be built into the image, but I may be
wrong; persistence in most cases is simply a virtual disk image
overlay (it is overlaid on top of the primary booting system) that
only saves changes and nothing else.

I had an ext2-formatted second-partition Arch install for a while, but
I realized I didn't like that. Now I simply have a SysResCD that I
managed to shove into a single directory ".ufdboot", hidden in Linux,
Mac, and Windows (by setting attrib +h from cmd or wine).

Try a boot helper such as Universal USB Installer; they say it gives
persistence to "any" distribution (I'm unsure how). You may also be
able to find a ready-made third-party image. Simply do a Google search
for "arch linux live with persistence" or similar.

In any case, I wouldn't suggest having one of our official ISOs redone
with persistence without more customization. They're bare minimal
system images, and the changes you apply are surely to increase by
several gigabytes (and the overlay may take even more space).

[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/User:Schivmeister/ArchLinuxUFD


--
GPG/PGP ID: C0711BF1