3 different os from the same usb?

Question

Similar to my previous question, I now came to the point where I want to try having Tails OS, Lubuntu 32bit and Ubuntu Mate 64bit on a single usb.

I have a 64gb flash drive, which I would like to hold a number of partitions: one for a 64bit ubuntu mate, one for 32bit lubuntu, one for Tails OS, and preferably another partition to store extra data on (as such a low-end game or two, old pictures etc.

Now I know that MSDOS (which I like to use) can have 4 primary partitions, though I'm not completely sure if Tails can run on MSDOS partition table. Can you tell me if it will work, if not, please recommend me something else?

What I'm about to try is installing Tails on the usb, then Lubuntu on another partition and Mate on yet another secondly (so I will have Mate's bootloader which I think looks good), and then finish off with the rest of the usb being an all-round FAT32 partition so both Tails and Ubuntus can read it. Not sure if this is going to work!

Thanks for reading, please do help and if Im saying something incorrect don't hesitate to tell me where I'm wrong!

Thanks y'all

Edit1: this is (for-now) the partition scheme:

screenshot

Will it work?

Please tell me more about what kind of installation you want for the different operating systems, and I can modify my answer. — sudodus, Oct 25 '17 at 17:55
extramisc partition should probably go on partition 1 and be either FAT32 or NTFS if you want a Windows computer to be able to access the partition. — C.S.Cameron, Oct 27 '17 at 17:30
Sudodus: yes it's ok to have two separate drives for it, but it's always more convenient to have least materials for most purposes =) — , Oct 30 '17 at 14:34
CS Cameron: Your guide is really great to be honest, thanks for that! — , Oct 30 '17 at 14:34

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 28 '17 at 02:09

2

Inspired by your concept I tried the following install:

Partition USB with GParted

Extract ISO to Tails partition using Archive Manager

When installing the first OS choose "Something else.

Select "Change" to specify the / partition.

Adding more OS is a repeat of the above.

GParted after OS installs.

Edit grub.cfg of last OS installed.

menuentry "Tails" {
    set root=(hd0,2)
        linux /live/vmlinuz boot=live config noswap nopersistent iso-scan/filename=/iso/tails-amd64-3.2.iso splash  --
        initrd /live/initrd.img
}

Disk info

answered Oct 28 '17 at 02:09

C.S.Cameron

19,519

Holy shit that is great, I'm gonna do this ASAP as what I tried to do didn't work lol, either it booted tails but no grub, or grub without Tails entry. – Oct 30 '17 at 14:36
Is the usbdata partition where you installed the bootloader? if not, would it work by having the bootloader on an extra partition specifically for the bootloader? – Oct 30 '17 at 14:41
Also, inside the extended partition I can only create Logical ones, is this normal? (sorry for asking so much) – Oct 30 '17 at 14:55
We can boot with either syslinux or grub. – C.S.Cameron Oct 30 '17 at 15:11
With this method we let the Ubuntu installer install grub to the disk not to the partition. This will end up using the grub.cfg file of the last OS installed. (see "Select "Change" to specify the / partition." above). – C.S.Cameron Oct 30 '17 at 15:18
The extended partition is to allow more than four partitions, (just in case). If you only need four partitions plus swap, you do not need to have an extended partition. You could also use a GTP partition table which the Tails installer prefers. I will try to submit a solution based on syslinux later today, there are some advantages using the Tails installer, like upgrading Tails and encrypted persistence. – C.S.Cameron Oct 30 '17 at 15:31

C.S.Cameron · Answer 2 · 2017-10-30T19:07:58.190

The previous solution does not take advantage of Tails features like Encrypted Persistence and Upgrading versions of Tails, for this we need to install Tails using the installer. Note that the installer uses a GTP partition table and uses syslinux as a boot loader, (to use the Grub2 loader,install Mate last and install boot loader to drive not partition.

1) Install Tails using Tails installer.

2) Add other partitions. Windows pre-10 can only see the first partition on a flash drive and Tails uses that for itself. Leave 8GiB on the right side for Tails encrypted partition if required.

3) Select "Something else" when installing the OS's.

4) When installing OS select same "Device for boot loader installation" as for "/"

5) Encrypt home folders if you wish.

Download syslinux 6.03 and extract chain.c32 to Tails syslinux folder.

7) Tails syslinux folder.

8) Add chain loading for installed OS to live64.cfg

label Ubuntu Mate
menu label Ubuntu Mate
com32 chain.c32
append hd0 2

label Lubuntu 32
menu label Lubuntu 32
com32 chain.c32
append hd0 3

Code

9) GParted after installing Tails persistent volume.

10) Syslinux boot screen can be customized.

Info

sudodus · Answer 3 · 2017-10-25T19:44:55.233

You want a multiboot USB drive.

Tails should be installed and run live (for security reasons it is designed like that).
Ubuntu MATE and Lubuntu can be installed and run
- live-only
- persistent live
- installed system (like installed into an internal drive).

This is possible using one single USB drive but much more complicated than to have a separate drive for Tails and have Ubuntu MATE and Lubuntu together on another drive. This is particularly important if you want to keep your Tails up to date and secure without damaging the other two operating systems.

Edit:

You can install Ubuntu MATE and Lubuntu into your USB pendrive almost like you would install them into an internal drive (a dual boot system). It will be much easier, if you do it after removing the internal drive. I think you will get some useful tips from this link and links from it,

Boot Ubuntu from external drive.

It would be a good idea to pre-partition the drive with gparted and use 'Something else' at the partitioning window of the installer (which is different from the instructions in the link).

is it of importance to update tails every time something's released? like, major updates every half-year or year, i get that. but smaller updates? i can just remake the whole usb every year right — , Oct 25 '17 at 18:51
Yes, I think so. See this link, https://tails.boum.org/support/faq/index.en.html#index8h2: "Tails provides upgrades every six weeks, that are thoroughly tested to make sure that no security feature or configuration gets broken. If you upgrade the system yourself using apt or Synaptic, you might break things. Upgrading when you get a notification from Tails Upgrader is enough.". See also https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/upgrade/index.en.html — sudodus, Oct 25 '17 at 19:03

3 different os from the same usb?

3 Answers3