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I have a USB-C NVMe "bridge device" with a fast storage unit installed. I would like to use this as a portable system, similar to a live Ubuntu Desktop system, except that it should retain all its data and will not be used to install from.

My current thinking, is that I should just install Ubuntu Desktop normally on the NVMe and use it as is, but I'm wondering if I might be missing something and there are other advantages with using a live system than I'm aware of?

Should I have to deal with machine-id or do I have to worry about network conflicts and such?

Jo-Erlend Schinstad
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  • https://askubuntu.com/a/1118412/1210606 – ChanganAuto Oct 28 '22 at 14:32
  • @ChanganAuto: That seems unrelated to what I'm asking though. – Jo-Erlend Schinstad Oct 28 '22 at 16:18
  • How so? It thoroughly explains how to have a full installation in an external drive that's portable between systems even if very different (BIOS and UEFI). This answers your "might be missing something" (indeed you are because a normal installation only boots in the machine it was installed, there are a few more steps to make it portable). And no, you don't have to worry with machine ID, network conflicts are an entirely different story but has nothing to do with the system's portability. – ChanganAuto Oct 28 '22 at 16:25
  • If you want the device to boot on both BIOS and UEFI machines, you might look at this link: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1403792/how-to-create-a-full-install-of-ubuntu-22-04-to-usb-device-step-by-step I think this should work on USB-C NVMe, but I have not tried that. – C.S.Cameron Oct 29 '22 at 04:47
  • @C.S.Cameron: The problem is not installing Ubuntu. I know how to do that. The question is about whether there are any differences between live boots and normal installs. For instance, should I reset/unset machine-id during boot? I'm guessing that I should also unset some networking stuff, but is that correct and what should I do? Things like that, is what I'm asking. I use to do this all the time back in the days, but there's been so many changes since then. – Jo-Erlend Schinstad Nov 08 '22 at 17:32
  • I just plug in my full install USB, as made above, then push the on button with F9 held down, (it is an HP), and select an OS in GRUB. The USB is a Full install just like the internal drive, there is no Live boot. see also https://askubuntu.com/a/1330458/43926 – C.S.Cameron Nov 09 '22 at 01:48
  • @C.S.Cameron: But are you using it as a portable system or just as an external drive for a single computer? Because making it portable is the question. For instance, when you request an IP from your DHCP server, it is based on the value of /etc/machine-id, so you need to deal with that when you make a golden image for cloning, for instance, because otherwise, you will get network conflicts when you boot the clones. Thus, I can't just make an Ubuntu install and flash it to a USB device, because I will get network conflicts. I'm asking what issues I need to deal with in that scenario. – Jo-Erlend Schinstad Nov 11 '22 at 20:05
  • @Jo-Erlend Schinstad: All Live installs for the same version of Ubuntu have the same UUID because they are clones, as you said. GParted has an option to create a new UUID that gets around this. It will work with Live or persistent installs made using Rufus, Universal, or mkusb. It will not work with ISO9660 type installs made using dd, Etcher, SDC, or Gnome-Disks, Ventoy is a challenge. A Full install made per my above link, is the same as an internal install except it will boot in BIOS mode or UEFI mode. UUID's for each install are unique. See also: https://askubuntu.com/a/1330458/43926 – C.S.Cameron Nov 12 '22 at 01:04
  • @C.S.Cameron: You're talking about filesystem UUID? That's something else. Every time you boot a live Ubuntu image, the value of /etc/machine-id is generated randomly at boot instead of at image creation, because otherwise, different users of the same live image would get the same IP on the network, which would generate conflicts. So this is the type of differences I'm looking for between a live session and an installed session, where the machine-id is permanent. It's just so difficult to know what I don't know. :) – Jo-Erlend Schinstad Nov 13 '22 at 02:19
  • @Jo-Erlend Schinstad: I am not understanding why fully installing Ubuntu Desktop normally on the NVMe does not work for you? I don't think Ubuntu cares if it is installed internally or externally. – C.S.Cameron Nov 13 '22 at 07:35
  • @C.S.Cameron: I have given the example of machine-id, where your networking will not work when multiple computers claim to be the same machine on the network, because IP addresses need to be unique. This is an example of a thing that I am aware of, but I'm asking about what if anything, I'm unaware of. – Jo-Erlend Schinstad Nov 19 '22 at 14:09

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