Arch Linux

Zhme

Member

Registered: 2017-06-11

Posts: 80

Install without live media from VM/other on running windows OS?

I am without my removable devices for the time being in the hospital and wanted to throw Arch onto my secondary hard drive.

I have windows on an SSD currently running which I would like to use as a "live media environment" of sorts, and there is a HDD that I would like to wipe and fresh install Arch onto. I have been searching for whether it is possible, but with the litany of guides to "Install linux ON a VM" I have been unable to find a concise answer.

Can I run a VM with an Arch ISO/image and still have full disk capability to wipe and install a fully functional OS on my machine or will the VM/Windows restrict my permissions enough to make this impossible?  Or, even more directly, is this not possible for a more obvious reason that I am unaware of?

Please forgive me if this question is foolish and thank you in advance!

jonno2002

Member

Registered: 2016-11-21

Posts: 877

Re: Install without live media from VM/other on running windows OS?

theres 2 ways i can think of.

1. use virtualbox raw disk vmdk explained here:
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch09.html#rawdisk

2. partition the second disk for an arch install and add an extra bootable partition and copy the arch iso to it, then you can boot into the arch installer and install arch without a VM.
example partition scheme of 2nd hdd:

-EFI partition (fat32)
-arch install partition (fat32)
-root partition
-swap partition

as for what partitioning tool to use i have no idea as i dont use windows but im sure there are plenty out there.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,484

Website

Re: Install without live media from VM/other on running windows OS?

I don't think the above is relevant.  The raw disk image link is to use the raw disk as the vm storage drive - that's not the goal here.  You'd run the VM just from the iso (which itself would be stored on the windows SSD).  You'd also need to list the HDD in the VM setup so it is accessible to be partitioned and mounted.  Then boot up the iso, partition the HDD, and mount the partitions under /mnt and proceed as usual.

That said, you *do* have a device you could write the iso to: the HDD.  You could write it to the HDD, boot to it with the boot option to copy the full iso to ram (I forget how it's labeled) and then at that point you can partition the HDD and continue as usual.  The down side here is if you stop part way through, you'll not be able to reboot to the live iso system.

Last edited by Trilby (2022-04-23 03:49:40)

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

jonno2002

Member

Registered: 2016-11-21

Posts: 877

Re: Install without live media from VM/other on running windows OS?

yea thats what i meant, create the vmdk disk and add it to the arch install VM as a second drive