Is it possible to update Ubuntu Live USB stick?

Question

I built an ubuntu 16.04 live usb stick from ubuntu iso file using refus month ago, and it has been working great. There was only one issue though: my router doesn't have DHCP enabled (it's complicated why ) so when booting into live Ubuntu, there is no network connection.

Is it possible to update the live Ubuntu? I mean it won't be possible if it were a CD, but given it's a usb, is it possible to update /etc/network/interfaces and manually assign ip/gateway stuff? or have some packages pre-installed (the default Ubuntu 16.04 iso is missing a few great tools)

I tried but it seems after re-boot, those changes are lost. So it seems that the Live Ubuntu is write protected. Can someone shed some light on this? thanks!

Solution 1

Boot with your live USB, open a terminal and use:

sudo apt install mkusb

Then run mkusb and create a new live USB with persistence using a new stick on a different USB port. Pay careful attention to using the correct USB port with the new USB stick.

Follow these instructions.

Solution 2

When you created the LiveUSB, if you did not create a persistence file to store changes persistently, then you get this seemingly "write protected" state you mentioned.

If this is the situation, that every time you reboot you 'lose' your settings and such, then there is no way to really 'update' the LiveUSB, because what's missing is the persistence file to hold the changes between the base system image and the most recent changes. You would have to recreate the USB stick with persistence. To do this, you would need to use a different tool to create the USB stick, as Rufus doesn't support persistence.

(I do not currently know of any Windows-based ISO-to-USB creator beyond unetbootin which can properly create a persistence file, unfortunately, and unetbootin is actually not highly recommended anymore for creating Ubuntu LiveUSBs.)

Comments

[guiverc]

Outside of persistence (see Thomas Ward's answer) you can install Ubuntu to a USB thumb-drive, then it allows booting & updating as if it were any normal device.

[Bo Chen]

thanks Thomas! What is the recommended way to create a liveUSB with persistence file?