Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

FightRight · 2008-05-03 10:45:09

Hello there,

i would like to install arch on an usbstick like slax, puppy or dsl. Is it possible or does even exists a stick version of arch ?

Best regards

FightRight

Allan · 2008-05-03 10:48:09

I think the lastest installer release canadidate (2008-04) can be used from a USB stick - but I think that is just the installer.

You may also want to look at http://www.faunos.com/ which is based on Arch.

bender02 · 2008-05-03 13:20:22

Godane's archlive might be what you're looking for. He actually used slax's live scripts.

lilsirecho · 2008-05-03 15:24:24

Faunos is best installed on a 2GB flash device since it has 1GB of system packages. Re-partitioning is done after initial install to enable growth in the system.

Alternatively, some of the larger packages can be removed, i.e., open office and stellarium to permit easier program adjustments at initial boot-up..

Try it with no impact on your present system.

kumico · 2008-05-03 17:38:34

you could also install the system with pacman from your arch installation,
just change the pacman `--root` and `--dbpath`, see `pacman -Sh`

FightRight · 2008-05-04 11:46:43

kumico wrote:

you could also install the system with pacman from your arch installation,
just change the pacman `--root` and `--dbpath`, see `pacman -Sh`

This seems to be a really good option to make an own mini arch on a pendrive. Do you have any experience with this kind of installation ?
And what do i need for a bootable base system ? Another question is, how is it possible that this arch runs on different machines?

kumico · 2008-05-04 12:43:33

instroot=/clementine
mkdir $instroot
sudo pacman --root=$instroot --dbpath=$instroot -Sy base grub kernel26

will get you a base system installed.
you will need to configure at least fstab though
i installed it this way on my harddrive,
once ive done configuring i copy $instroot over to the usb drive,
and install grub on the usb drive

grub-install --root-directory=[/mnt/point] /dev/[usb_drive_device_partition]

i only run the barebones system as it's only a rescue usb,
but you could also install Xorg, etc .. whatever you want
it is afterall a real installed system

i don't know much about using it accross systems, but i see no reason why it shouldn't work
just make sure you use the -fallback kernel image by default. and maybe the vesa drive for Xorg,
you could always configure these for whatever system you're on later.

FightRight · 2008-05-04 19:06:43

Very cool, thank you for your explanation. I will try it out and after that. I will give you a response.

Sigi · 2008-05-04 20:17:43

If you're interested in building your own system on a usb stick, larch could also be interesting for you. The already mentioned faunOS is built using the larch scripts and they are a great tool to easily create a live-USB system based on Arch. Follow the link in my sig.

gradgrind · 2008-05-05 06:59:56

Warning:

There is a problem associated with running an operating system from a flash medium. That is the limited number of write cycles the medium supports. A normal operating system makes a great number of write accesses to its file-system, especially if the mount options 'noatime' and 'nodiratime' are not used. You may find that your medium dies rather quickly. That is why most systems designed for usb-sticks use unionfs/aufs so that the 'real' file-system on the medium is not written to during normal use.

I suggest you investigate this before getting too carried away with the beautiful simplicity of a straight 'pacman -r' installation, it might well be a show-stopper.

FightRight · 2008-05-06 14:47:30

Thank you for this information. But that means in my case, that i have to format the stick with the unionfs or aurfs and setting up the fstab with the right options that you have describe.

Did i understand you correct ?

Last edited by FightRight (2008-05-06 14:48:02)

gradgrind · 2008-05-06 16:13:08

FightRight wrote:

Thank you for this information. But that means in my case, that i have to format the stick with the unionfs or aurfs and setting up the fstab with the right options that you have describe.
Did i understand you correct ?

aufs/unionfs is not a file system that you can use to format a physical medium such as a usb-stick. It is a sort of pseudo-file-system that makes a read only real filesystem appear to be writable, but the writing is done not to the original file-system, but to another one, which could be a disk, memory or whatever. To use such a file-system quite a few changes are necessary to the way a Linux system is booted.

You can find some more details at aufs.sourceforge.net and some description of how it is used in larch in the documentation on the larch web-site (see below).

Arch Linux

#1 2008-05-03 10:45:09

Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#2 2008-05-03 10:48:09

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#3 2008-05-03 13:20:22

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#4 2008-05-03 15:24:24

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#5 2008-05-03 17:38:34

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#6 2008-05-04 11:46:43

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#7 2008-05-04 12:43:33

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#8 2008-05-04 19:06:43

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#9 2008-05-04 20:17:43

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#10 2008-05-05 06:59:56

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#11 2008-05-06 14:47:30

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

#12 2008-05-06 16:13:08

Re: Is it possible to install Arch on a usbstick ?

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