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I am running a lab (scratch, 7yo kids) on live USB installs (can't install Linux on the school machines), and suddenly I have to log into ubuntu-one to install Chromium from the app store.

Since there are no persistent USB installs anymore (at least in any of the usb creator programs), I have to log on on with my credentials for each machine in the lab (because I have a complex password that involves adding the lastpass extension to firefox, logging in lastpass and copying my password to the ubuntu-one login).

I doubt Ubuntu allows kids to sign the ubuntu-one agreement.

Is there a way round this?

Zanna
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Richard Bell
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2 Answers2

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Persistent live system in a USB pendrive

You can create persistent live Ubuntu pendrives with mkusb. See these links

help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb

help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/persistent

Install mkusb via PPA,

sudo add-apt-repository universe  # only for standard Ubuntu

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mkusb/ppa  # and press Enter
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mkusb mkusb-nox usb-pack-efi

I would say that you need at least 4 GB USB pendrives. But to make the persistent live drives work well, you should have fast USB 3 pendrives, and you find no such drives below 16 GB. See this link

help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick#Notes_about_speed

See also the mkUSB quick start manual

enter image description here

Installed system in a USB pendrive

You can install Ubuntu into a USB pendrive [almost] in the same way as you would install it into an internal drive.

  • Advantages: You can

    • install hardware drivers and programs,
    • update and upgrade the system without any limits.
    • An installed system is more stable, less sensitive to corruption.
    • You can create an OEM system, to let the end users (students) configure the drives individually, which can be good if they share a local area network.

  • Disadvantages:

    • Generally, an installed system in a USB pendrive is portable between computers, but not as portable as a [persistent] live system
    • If you install a proprietary driver (for example a graphics driver or wifi driver), the portability between different computers will be reduced.
    • The system is more sensitive to the read and write speed of the USB pendrive, it is more important to have a fast USB 3 pendrive.

You find detailed instructions at the following link,

Boot Ubuntu from external drive.

sudodus
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Windows boot drive makers with a persistence option include UNetbootin, MultiBootUSB, YUMI and Universal. YUMI and Universal are not limited to 4GB persistence.

Linux persistent boot drive makers include mkusb, which is my favorite, and MultiBootUSB, which has a 4GB persistence limit.

Have you considered doing a Full install to USB?

You can do an install, make it how you want it, adding programs, (like Chromium), etc, and then clone, image, or backup/restore the drive to the students USB drives. You could do this with a persistent mkusb install also.

C.S.Cameron
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