#Install bootloader on usb linux install
#Install bootloader on usb linux upgrade
#Install bootloader on usb linux portable
#Install bootloader on usb linux Pc
#Install bootloader on usb linux iso

Reboot into BIOS firmware and select target USB as boot device.

Note вЂњвЂ“removableвЂќ flag is important in the above command as it allows USB to boot on any Intel-based PCs.

вЂњgrub-install -d /usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi вЂ“efi-directory=/boot/efi/ вЂ“removable /dev/sdaвЂќ.

mount the right one, вЂќ sudo mount /dev/sda1 /boot/efiвЂќ.

#Install bootloader on usb linux Pc

Type вЂњlsblkвЂќ to verify that ESP partition on PC built-in drive is mounted.

Reboot into BIOS firmware and select вЂњubuntuвЂќ as the boot target.

#Install bootloader on usb linux install

So the first thing we need to do is to install Ubuntu loader into USB ESP partition and install grub into USB disk

See more details at this very old bug report. The reason for these problems is that, despite we told Ubuntu installer to install Ubuntu on the USB disk, which implies it should use the ESP partition on target USB disk, it still uses the ESP partition on PC built-in disk, and thus screws up EFI partition on PC and leave an empty EFI on target USB disk.

Even worse, your PC is likely not able to boot up Windows either if you remove the target USB disk.

If you boot into BIOS and select the USB disk as boot device, it wonвЂ™t work.

However, there are 2 very serious problems

Pic #9 вЂ“ create encrypted physical volumeДЄt this point you might get an illusion everything is working, because if you reboot the PC you will be able to select either Ubuntu or Windows to boot up, and they all work.

Pic #6 вЂ“ Select вЂњOtherвЂќ installation type.

wait for a while, select вЂњ/dev/mapper/sdb3_cryptвЂќ as вЂњ/homeвЂќ.

Click вЂњ+вЂќ to create a new partition/volume.

Select the free space left during creating partitions.

(optional) Create encrypted physical volume.

select root partition and mount as вЂњ/вЂќ.

select the ESP partition on the target USB drive as the вЂњESPвЂќ partition.

select вЂњsomething elseвЂќ in partition page.

click вЂњinstall ubuntuвЂќ icon on the desk to to start installation.

Once we finish the above step, quit gparted and we are ready to install Ubuntu into the target USB drive. Pic #5 вЂ“ after create ESP and root partitions Step 3 вЂ“ Install Ubuntu

Pic #5 shows the partition table at this step.

(optional) if you like to have encrypted home partition, create an ext4 root partition with size of 10GB or more, and leave the rest free space open for encrypted home petition later.

create an ext4 partition that takes the rest of space for root partition.

In the pop-up window, select вЂњespвЂќ and вЂњbootвЂќ flag.

Select the ESP partition and then select вЂњPartitionвЂќ/вЂќManage FlagsвЂќ.

Apply changes to actually crate the partition.set вЂњespвЂќ, вЂњbootвЂќ attributes to the new ESP partition.Enter вЂњ100MBвЂќ as size and select вЂњFAT32вЂќ as file type.create 100MB fat32 partition as ESP partition.click вЂњDeviceвЂќ/вЂќCreate Partition Table вЂ¦вЂќ.Once Ubuntu is up and running, start a terminal and type вЂњsudo gparted /dev/sdbвЂќ (replace вЂњ/dev/sdbвЂќ with the right usb device you have for the target USB drive).In most case if you follow the instructions exactly, it would be вЂњ/dev/sdbвЂќ.Identify which drive is target USB drive by examining the output вЂњlsblkвЂќ.Select вЂњTry UbuntuвЂќ when presented the option.On Lenovo PC, one has to press ENTER on bootup, and then press F12 to select boot device Different PC have different process to do this.

Interrupt normal booting sequence and choose the media USB drive as the boot device.Insert installation media drive into PC.Step 2 вЂ“ Prepare the partition table on the target drive

#Install bootloader on usb linux iso

Step 1 вЂ“ flash Ubuntu ISO image to the installation media drive

A second USB drive or disk that will hold installed Ubuntu OS, a.k.a.

A USB drive that holds Ubuntu ISO image for installation, a.k.a.

We assume it support UEFI and GPT partitions which are standards for all recent ones.

In the following steps, I will also show an optional feature which creates an encrypted home directory.

#Install bootloader on usb linux upgrade

I suppose this setup gives longer life span of the installation, which potentially allows you to even upgrade your OS later.

#Install bootloader on usb linux portable

My goal is to install a standard Ubuntu OS on a USB disk, which can be updated and upgraded just like normal PC case, except that a) it is on a portable USB drive or disk and b) it is portable across different PCвЂ™s. Note that the objective is different from so-called LiveUSB ubuntu with persistency, where Ubuntu OS itself will remain as a static ISO image and updates are added on-top in a separate persistent partition. So I wrote down this blog in the hope it might help others, as well as my future self, in the similar shoes. However, due to what I considered a bug in Ubuntu, this is actually harder than it should be. My goal is to install fully updateable Ubuntu 20.04 onto a USB stick, so that I can boot it up with any Intel-based PCвЂ™s or laptops.