How to create an Ubuntu UsbLive with persistence
First step is downloading Ubuntu Dapper iso file:
NOTE: Newer versions(Feisty and Gutsy), by now, july 2007, have a bug that prevents to use persistence feature.
You can navigate to Ubuntu download page and select Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Desktop edition (alias Dapper),
or simply enter at console command line:
$wget http://releases.ubuntu.com/dapper/ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-i386.iso
I recommend a usb pendrive with a capacity higher than 1 Gigabyte, because you will need at least 700 megabytes to copy dapper iso file on it.
In my case I use a 2G pendrive.
Connect the usb pendrive so it be detected.
$dmesg command will show something like:
[ 2697.454838] usb-storage: device found at 4
...
[ 2704.387453] SCSI device sdh: 4029440 512-byte hdwr sectors (2063 MB)
$fdisk -l also shows the new device.
If you still dont find it, you can seek for it at $cat /proc/bus/usb/devices output.
On my system the new device appears as /dev/sdh, in this tutorial, to be more general, I will write it as /dev/sdX.
Next step will be partitionating our usb pendrive: (choose the program you prefer: fdisk, cfdisk, gparted ...)
#fdisk /dev/sdX
(for help on this step read $man fdisk)
I partitionate the device into two partitions sdX1 and sdX2, both sized one gigabyte, and make bootable the first one, showing this result with fdisk:
| Device | Active | Beginning | End | Blocks | Id | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /dev/sdX1 | * | 1 | 493 | 978081 | b | W95 FAT32 |
| /dev/sdX2 | 494 | 1015 | 1035648 | 83 | Linux |
Umount both partitions if they are mounted and then format them with:
#mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n usb /dev/sdX1
#mkfs.ext3 -L casper-rw -b 4096 /dev/sdX2NOTE: casper-rw label is important, do not change it.
Mount dapper iso file in your harddisk:
#mkdir dapper_directory
#mount -o loop ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-i386.iso dapper_directoryCopy iso files to first usb pendrive partition:
#mount /dev/sdX1 /media/foo
#cd dapper_directory
#cp -dpR . /media/fooInstalling grub bootloader:
#grub-install --root-directory=/media/foo /dev/sdXthis does not install menu.lst file so we will create it manually:
$sudo gedit /media/foo/boot/grub/menu.lstHowto change isolinux.cfg entries (/media/foo/isolinux/isolinux.cfg) into menu.lst format:
E.g: isolinux.cfg entry
LABEL live
menu label ^Start or install Ubuntu
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw quiet splash --changes into: (menu.lst entry)
title Start or install Ubuntu
root (hd0,0) <---------------- this is necessary to identify usb device at boot.
kernel /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw quiet splash
initrd /casper/initrd.gz
bootNOTE: If you have problems creating menu.lst file, copy the one that appears at the end of this article.
Now you have written a correct menu.lst file at /media/foo/boot/grub directory exec again:
#grub-install --root-directory=/media/foo /dev/sdXNOTE: If grub gives this error message "/dev/sdX does not have any corresponding BIOS drive"
execute this command:
#grub-install --root-directory=/media/foo --recheck /dev/sdXNOTE: to be able to run your usb pendrive from qemu you have to trick the emulator giving a usb dapper iso as a cdrom device e.g:
#qemu -hda /dev/sdX -cdrom ubuntu-6.06.1-desktop-i386.iso -boot cIf you want to restart your computer to probe your creation, run:
#eject /dev/sdXNOTE: eject /dev/sdX umounts sdX partitions and deletes /dev/sdX, /dev/sdX1,... devices
Restart and boot from your usb pendrive.
Have fun!!
APPENDIX: Example of menu.lst file
NOTE: persistent tag at first kernel line enables persistence mode in our usb pendrive.
timeout 10 color cyan/blue white/blue title Start Ubuntu in Persistent mode root (hd0,0) kernel /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw persistent initrd /casper/initrd.gz boot title Live - Start or install Ubuntu root (hd0,0) kernel /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw initrd /casper/initrd.gz boot title Start Ubuntu in safe graphics mode root (hd0,0) kernel /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper xforcevesa initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw initrd /casper/initrd.gz boot title Check CD for defects root (hd0,0) kernel /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper integrity-check initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw initrd /casper/initrd.gz boot title Memory test root (hd0,0) kernel /install/mt86plus boot
This article is based on this excelent spanish one extracted from Daniel Perella's Blog.
