[split] Install Snakeoil OS on a USB stick

[cpcat]

Has anyone had success in installing Ubuntu/Snakeoil on a USB stick?  I have tried twice, got all the way through the install process for latest Ubuntu server edition, it says “install completed, remove install media”, I force boot from USB but it won’t boot.

[agent_kith]

Has anyone had success in installing Ubuntu/Snakeoil on a USB stick?  I have tried twice, got all the way through the install process for latest Ubuntu server edition, it says “install completed, remove install media”, I force boot from USB but it won’t boot.

Running on USB needs a different approach.

You need to create a "LiveCD" of Linux. I do not believe Server edition has a live CD feature, you'll need a copy of Ubuntu Desktop Live CD onto a USB stick.

Next, create a persistent partition. A persistent partition means any changes you've made will not be lost on reboot.

Boot the computer with this USB stick. Copy the Snakeoil installer over and install.

And that's it.

If your computer has enough RAM, one other tweak you may want to consider is to modify the boot parameter to install the OS to RAM. This will give you lower latency and improve the longentivity of the USB stick.

You can search on the Internet on how to do all the above. When I have more time on hand in the next year I'll sit down and write a proper Wiki on how to do this.

Update: Look at this thread on how to do it: https://www.snakeoil-os.net/forums/Threa...25#pid5325

[cpcat]

Thanks- and thanks for the link.  I was able to finally get the Ubuntu server installed to a second USB using the iso. There is a section in the Ubuntu server installer that allows disk customization and creating partitions and installation to a second USB-and I ended up with boot, Efi boot, root (/     ), and swap which worked.  I’m not sure if they are all needed but I used a 64gig stick and had the space.  I read other tutorials which suggested a swap partition was required so I added this under (other).   I reformatted the entire usb to ext 4 prior to partitioning but the installer still defaulted to vfat for one of the boots.

Now I am working on getting the Snakeoil installer copied to Ubuntu.  I haven’t been able to get wget to work to directly download it.

[Bromf]

Yes, I've had the same with wget...produces a 'denied'  but just download to your local device and scp to the other.

[cpcat]

Pasted from “Install Snakeoil on a USB” thread on 1/2/23:

So, big thanks to Bromf and Snoopy for their help.  I was able to complete my installation on a USB stick.  I tried the persistent Live USB per the instructions on the “portable USB thread” but
was not able to make it work (not persistent for me).  I then went back to the server ISO and tried that again, was able to make a bootable USB.  The snag I ran into with the Ubuntu server was twofold-my ethernet kept disabling itself inside the server, and even with enabling the connection via command line I still could not manage to download the Snakeoil installer file.  

I then- with some amount of frustration- purchased additional USB sticks, this time a quality name brand (Sandisk).  Wow, what a difference compared to the el cheap sticks I got on Amazon -so much faster with the Ubuntu installers.   I switched to the Ubuntu 22 desktop ISO, simply ran the installation per the prompts (minimum version), the USB stick was recognized and installed to it, and the installation went smoothly.   Since I now had the desktop version of Ubuntu, I was able to use Firefox to navigate here, download the Snakeoil installer, and run the commands above provided by Bromf to execute the Snakeoil installer.  It would be VERY helpful to add those instructions/commands to the wiki btw!. 

I think it is important to point out that I ran the Ubuntu desktop installer ISO on a hard drive-less mini PC (fitlet 2) -and inserted the blank USB into the second port after the installer began to run.  This may make it easier to get a full install on a USB flash drive.  Also, use a quality USB drive as noted above.

Link to Fitlet 2 that I have: [oh well can’t post link]

Anyway, thanks again, I will post further in the "install Snakeoil on a USB" thread unless you guys think the two threads should be merged.  

I have also now activated my Snakeoil installation and am running Snakeoil/MPD/upmpdcli as player and using LMS/Daphile on a second PC as server-great so far.

 

So,  I have a stable install of Ubuntu desktop/ Snakeoil on USB (full version not live) and running fine.