---
title: "Creating a Ubuntu \"To-Go\" USB (Persistent USB)"
canonical: "https://kb.uconn.edu/space/IKB/10763764277/Creating%20a%20Ubuntu%20%22To-Go%22%20USB%20(Persistent%20USB)"
format: markdown
---
The standard live Ubuntu USB installation works in a temporary state such that any work done on it is not saved and will be erased upon shutting down. This works well for quick troubleshooting tasks that can only be some in that environment but it is not good for long-term usage. If a client is requesting that we create a Ubuntu disk on a flash drive for them, we can create a "to-go" USB/external drive that will act as a native installation to a single machine.

> ⚠️ The installation will only work on one machine. This Ubuntu installation is customized to a specific hardware setup and will likely not work if plugged into a different machine. This workflow should be completed on the machine that the client intends to use for Ubuntu.

## Preparing the USB

> ⚠️ It is highly recommended that the client use an external drive that supports at least USB 3.0 transfer speeds. Anything slower will lead to poor performance even on a highly configured machine.

1. Using one of the Ubuntu USBs, boot into Ubuntu on the client's machine.
2. Insert the flash drive the client intends to install Ubuntu To-Go on into the machine.
3. Open the **GParted** disk tool. Make sure the client's flash drive is selected and unmount all partitions. Delete all partitions so that the whole drive is unallocated space. Click the check button to confirm the changes.  
:cross_mark: Warning: This will delete all data off of the client's flash drive. Make sure that they are informed of this and that they sign the data waiver first. Make sure that the client's internal hard drive is not selected in GParted.
4. Close out of GParted.

## Installing Ubuntu

1. Open the "Install Ubuntu" tool on the desktop. Follow the wizard and fill in the appropriate information until you get to the "Installation type" screen. Make sure that 3rd party software and drivers will be installed.
  1. If the installer asks for a disk password separate from the user password, have the client set it up and tell them it is a security password separate from their login. If the client is not there, set it as their NetID and note that in the ticket.
2. On the "Installation type" screen, select **Something else** and click **Continue**. This will allow us to install it on an external drive as opposed to the internal drive.
3. With the device list showing, select the **free space** of the drive the client wants Ubuntu installed on. If the option is available, click **New Partition Table...** Then, with the free space still selected, click the "plus" button and create three partitions with the following information:
  1. File system: FAT32
    1. Mount point: /HTINSTALL
    2. Size: As large as possible while saving room for the Ubuntu install. Set to at most 6GB (6114MB) less than the maximum size.
    3. Leave everything else as default.
  2. File system: EXT4
    1. Mount point: **/**
    2. Leave everything else as default.
  3. File system: swap
    1. Leave everything as default.  
:warning: Note: A swap partition is only necessary if the client does not have a lot of RAM (< 4 GB) or if the client wants the computer to be able to hibernate (it goes to sleep rather than shutting down when closed). If used, take away an additional 1.5 GB (1536 MB) from the FAT32 partition.
4. At the bottom of the window, make sure that the GRUB bootloader will be installed on the external drive with the operating system. Click **Install Now** and then **Continue**. The operating system will start the installation procedure. Depending on the speed of the computer and the type of flash drive, it may take 5-30 minutes.
  1. Set up the user information in accordance with how we do Windows and macOS installations with the client's name and lowercase NetID as the password.

## Post-Installation

1. The client will have to select the flash drive as the boot device in the BIOS each time they want to run Ubuntu. Boot into the flash drive and then select **Ubuntu** to start the system.
2. Once started up, connect the computer to Ethernet then open a new terminal window.
3. Input the following into the terminal followed by the Enter key:
  1. Input the client's password when asked. The characters will not show up at all, which is normal behavior.
  2. This command will force the system to check for updates.
4. Once the update check is complete, input the following command followed by the Enter key:
  1. This command will download all updates and apply them one by one. This process may take a while and will show a progress bar at the bottom of the terminal.
  2. A restart after the updates is not necessary unless requested in the terminal.
5. Close the terminal and check the Wi-Fi network settings to see if it lists the nearby networks, indicating that the wireless card driver is working.

> ❌ As a reminder, the operating system is running directly from the flash drive. This means that if removed, the system will crash and there will be a high chance of data loss or system corruption. Always shut the computer down completely before removing the drive.

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