Install Lubuntu to Flash Drive

Question

How can I make a persistent install of Lubuntu on my flash drive, so I can boot from my flash drive and save changes and files?

Solution

Running from USB is well supported by the standard Ubuntu setup, and there are a number of tutorials out there including this one.

In case that link vanishes, the procedure is as follows:

1. Download and burn to CD the right Ubuntu ISO
2. Boot from that CD
3. Plug in the target USB drive
4. Run the startup disk creator (found under system/administration in the menus
5. Select the target drive and CD if they are not correctly selected automatically and choose how much space to reserve for changes
6. Click "make startup disk" and wait for it to finish
7. Shutdown Ubuntu and reboot from the newly populated USB drive, and give it a test

Installed to a USB drive that way, anything you save goes into the block of space reserved for such changes - this includes saving documents, installing new programs & updating existing ones, and changing settings - so the changes are available next time you boot using that USB drive. Not changes will be made to your existing drives unless you explicitly mount them using the new installation.

This should work equally well whether you are using a flash-based USB stick or an external drive connected via USB as long as your machine supports booting from such media.

Comments

[quack quixote]

@Nironan: Lubuntu is Ubuntu minus ubuntu-desktop (and its dependencies) plus lubuntu-desktop (and its dependencies). if you can find or create your own Lubuntu LiveCD, this procedure should work well.

[David Spillett]

@Nironan12: Perhaps the USB creator just isn't installed automatically in lubuntu's reduced weight default install. Try sudo aptitude install usb-creator-gtk, or see if you can find it using the GUI based package manager, once you have booted from the live CD. Given lubuntu's relationship with the other Ubuntu variants I expect the package to be available in the repository and work once installed.