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I installed the latest stable release of Ubuntu on an external SSD, my goal was to have a portable Ubuntu installation. Even though I selected the external SSD as the boot device (in the installation phase), the grub had been installed on the main PC SSD. So, basically, I can't use my external SSD on another PC to boot my Ubuntu installation. How can I make my SSD Ubuntu installation bootable without erasing and re-installing everything? Thank you in advance.

Matteo Veraldi
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    The behavior you describe is a known feature, or bug of the installer Ubiquity, when installing in UEFI mode. I think you would have better luck with Lubuntu and its installer Calamares. But it is also possible to use Ubiquity, if you unplug, disconnect or otherwise disable the internal drive during the installation procedure. Then the grub boot system will be installed into the external SSD. See also this link and links from it. – sudodus Aug 07 '22 at 14:07
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    It is also possible to copy the relevant parts from the EFI system partition to a new partition with a FAT32 file system on the target drive, but it might be tricky. I think it is easier to redo the installation. - There is also another choice: install a compressed image file with Ubuntu Server, boot into it and after that install the desktop environment you want, the meta-package lubuntu-desktop or ubuntu-desktop ... See this link – sudodus Aug 07 '22 at 14:10
  • Thank you very much – Matteo Veraldi Aug 07 '22 at 14:59
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    See https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1396379 Grub installs to wrong disk. Do add yourself to the "Does this affect me?" list on the bug. There are workarounds/solutions in the bug comments. Your other problem now is that your host system probably will not boot without the external SSD (since needed grub files are on it). – ubfan1 Aug 07 '22 at 15:28

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In a live environment ( boot from the installation medium, usually a usb stick, and choose 'try Ubuntu' ) copy the EFI partition to the external harddrive ). You will have to shrink the current partition and move to the right, so there is place for the EFI partition. You can do this with GParted.
Or if you have two right hands, disconnect the internal harddrive and do an install. That way the installer can not write a part of Grub to the internal harddrive ( which is the actual problem ) and it will do its work the way you need to.

Joepie Es
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