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I read somewhere that running the ISO image of ubuntu on a USB bootable key was more robust than the installed version of the same ubuntu on the same USB key, because the ISO image do some additional tests to check that the material is supported (and may pack additional drivers).

What I'm asking : is it possible to provide the same robustness with installed image, in order to have one install that works on all computers ?

What I'm not asking : how to install ubuntu on my external drive. Nor how to put a live version of ubuntu on my external drive.

I'm asking this because I'd like to put an an external Hard Driver a linux system that I could transport with me everywhere, and I would like it to be as strong as possible.

Thank you.

tobiasBora
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  • It's not a duplicate, I'm not asking how to install, I'm asking how to install in a robust way. If I change my computer, I may miss some drivers that the live usb could already contain, or my ethernet could be broken... – tobiasBora Jan 19 '17 at 12:04
  • This answer may be relevant: https://askubuntu.com/questions/295701/what-would-be-the-differences-between-a-persistent-usb-live-session-and-a-instal/295776#295776 – user68186 Jan 19 '17 at 14:34
  • @user68186 : Well this answer explains very clearly what is my question : I'd like all the advantages of "Fully installed Ubuntu in an USB" without the trouble "Hardware on which the full install is created is important". – tobiasBora Jan 19 '17 at 14:43
  • @user68186 : I'm not asking for having every wifi drivers (even the ISO image does has it), but having the same flexibility of the ISO image would be nice. By the way, how is the ISO image done to be such secure ? – tobiasBora Jan 19 '17 at 14:52
  • Two reasons, the ISO image is more secure: First, it is a read only file system. This is somewhat negated with persistent option. Second, the ISO does not run any server like features by default. However, ISOs and persistent ISOs don't have any password, so they are not that secure. For example, if I install a ssh server in a persistent ISO and connect it to the internet, some hacker will take complete control of it within minutes. – user68186 Jan 19 '17 at 15:02

2 Answers2

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Actually, the goal you are trying to achieve here can only be done through a USB drive. A live installation can be operated in any device as it adjust itself according to the system. But same can't be done in an external Hard drive. You do can install the hard drive and adding a boot image into it, hence boot from that particular hard drive, but there is no 100% guarantee that it will run in all devices because your ubuntu installation was set according to that pc which you used to install the os on.

But still if you do wanna install ubuntu on an external hardrive- you will have to partition it.The best thing to do is shrink this partition by about 20 GB (which is more than enough for Ubuntu) and create new partitions there. Either use Windows' Disk Management tool to shrink the partition, or use GParted from the Ubuntu Live mode. Install Ubuntu to this partition. Choose your external hard disk as the device for GRUB (bootloader) installation as well.

Try the above method and then tell me if you had any luck. I would love to see it work the way you wanted it.

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man. -Elbert Hubbard

Alan Jameson
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  • I don't see why Hard Drive would be different from USB, they are seen as storage device by the computer, why would they differ ? And your solution does not solve my problem because the installed ubuntu would not have the "adjust itself" parameter... – tobiasBora Jan 19 '17 at 12:07
  • The architecture is the only thing (within reason) I see that could effect boot (so long as it has access to the needed partition table at boot) For any other system specs, I thought the os should be expected to work after changing out the related device. I remember reading this as an OS standard req. but I can't remember the standard so its in the wind now. Does anyone else know? – Nate T Aug 21 '21 at 11:52
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Here is an alternate solution. In this case you will burn the installation ISO in the external drive. In this way it can be used as a portable os, and also can be used to install Ubuntu in other PC's. You can also achieve the self "adjust parameter" in this way.

Make atleast a 20gb partition using Gparted or windows disk management.

Install UNetbootin from your software centre or though these commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gezakovacs/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install unetbootin

Open UNetbootin, select your distribution, select Select the ISO file , select a target drive (USB Drive or Hard Disk), then reboot. When you reboot open the boot manager (default f12) and select the external hard drive. Hope this Helps!

your question should be - Can I install Ubuntu from a external hard drive? and the answer is YES

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
-Albert Einstein

Alan Jameson
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  • I just wrote yesterday this big post http://askubuntu.com/questions/873004/ubuntu-on-a-usb-stick-boot-in-both-bios-and-uefi-modes/873445#873445] to explain how to manually create a USB Key that can handle multi-boot and persistance on UEFI boot and Legacy BIOS : . So I know how to create a live CD with persistance. But as descripted above, I do not want a Live CD (persistance has lot's of problems with kernel updates...), but an installed version which is as robust (driver meaning) as the Live CD. – tobiasBora Jan 19 '17 at 14:30
  • My cousin has installed Ubuntu in an external Hard Drive. He has been using Ubuntu like this for 4 years in different PC's. No error seen till date. You are getting into an XY dilemma. – Alan Jameson Jan 19 '17 at 14:35
  • Your cousin may be lucky, but as explained in this question : https://askubuntu.com/questions/295701/what-would-be-the-differences-between-a-persistent-usb-live-session-and-a-instal/295776#295776 , it's possible to have errors. Maybe your cousin never tried it's usb key in a computer with a different wifi card model... And I already have had problems with moving the Hard Drive of a computer, so I think that it's not that simple. – tobiasBora Jan 19 '17 at 14:50
  • You don't wanna install ubuntu on your external drive, nor wanna put a live version of ubuntu on your external drive. Do you think that there is infact; any other way in this world you want to use your linux though an external drive??? – Alan Jameson Jan 19 '17 at 15:39
  • No, I sayed that I want to install ubuntu on my external drive, but I want to find a way to ensure that my system is stable even when I change the computer, like in a live install. – tobiasBora Jan 19 '17 at 16:48