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Kalpesh avatar Ubuntu

Live persistence vs Full Install in an external SSD

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Kalpesh

Ok, I am new to this so will ask questions in points:

  1. "Installing" Ubuntu in ext SSD: Will I be able to use it on any PC like the "live install" with persistence(by simply selecting the SSD from bios)?
  2. What is preferred among the two options? I personally want to go with install if possible.
  3. I will be creating 2 partitions in SSD, one for Ubuntu and the other for storage. Among the 2 options will any one of them restrict me from doing so?
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ssd
guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
A full install is an actual installation; the persistent *live* is still a *live* session with those changes being saved between re-boots; but still not providing a full installation experience as it's still COW & chains; rather than direct writes.
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Kalpesh avatar
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Kalpesh
@guiverc so if I install it fully on SSD... I can use it on any other PC directly booting with SSD?
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user535733 avatar
cn flag
user535733
A LiveUSB's "Try Ubuntu" environment has two purposes: 1) So prospective users can try the Ubuntu experience, and 2) So prospective users can test Ubuntu on their hardware. Some folks use a Live environment for more than that, but it's not tested beyond those two purposes.
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user535733 avatar
cn flag
user535733
"preferred" is a matter of YOUR opinion and perferences. Advice: Try both ways, decide which you prefer, blog about your experience and results and preference. Then stick around here and answer similar questions from other folks who are wondering. More Advice: Ubuntu is fairly quick and easy to install (and re-install) -- there is no vendor lock-in, no Product Key to preserve and protect. So back up your data so you don't overwrite on a whim.
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ar flag
user68186
Does this answer your question? [What would be the differences between a persistent USB Live Session and a installed Ubuntu in a USB drive?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/295701/what-would-be-the-differences-between-a-persistent-usb-live-session-and-a-instal)
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Score:5
C.S.Cameron avatar Ubuntu
cn flag
C.S.Cameron

Persistent Install vs Full install

Ubuntu can be installed to a USB in different ways. A Live install does not save between sessions. A Persistent install extracts the OS from a compressed file and saves data to an overlay file or partition each session, and a Full install installs the complete OS to the USB just like an install to internal disk.

Comparison between Persistent and Full install USB

Advantages of a persistent install:

  1. You can use the persistent pendrive to install Ubuntu to another computer.

  2. A persistent install takes up less space on the pendrive.

  3. You can reset the pendrive by overwriting the old casper-rw file with a new one.

  4. The install to pendrive takes less time.

  5. Slightly less wear on the drive.

Advantages of a Full install:

  1. You can update and upgrade.

  2. If you have problems or wish to modify, the solution is the same as with an internal install, (You can ask for help in the forums).

  3. No ugly startup / install screen.

  4. Better security, you can use full encryption

  5. You can use proprietary drivers.

  6. Swapfiles and partitions work and Hibernation can be enabled.

  7. Many persistent installs are limited to a 4GB casper-rw and a 4GB home-rw persistence file, to get more persistence requires persistence partitions. Once casper-rw is full, the drive will not boot.

  8. More efficient usage of disk space. Does not require reserved space for persistence.

  9. Faster boot, no automatic disk checking or Try Ubuntu/Install Ubuntu screen.

  10. You can run VBox and use virtual machines.

  11. Generally faster boot than Live or Persistent USB's.

  12. More stable, better for day to day use. I have run Ubuntu off a flash drive for 5 years making only LTS upgrades.

Note that once booted, both methods run at about the same speed. If the computer has lots of RAM Ubuntu should run mainly in RAM and there will not be a big difference between running off internal HDD and USB3 flash drive f.

Full Install Method

A quick and easy method to flash a Full install to USB can be found here: Easy Full Install USB that Boots both BIOS and UEFI

A more traditional methods for creating a Full install USB from scratch can be found here: How to Create a Full Install of Ubuntu 20.04 to USB Device Step by Step

Persistent install method

The following tools can be used to make a Persistent install USB: mkusb - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb, Rufus - https://rufus.ie/en/, Universal USB Installer - https://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/, Ventoy - https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html, YUMI- https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/. and others.

mkusb is my favorite tool for making Persistent USB's https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb. It creates boot partitions that allow it to boot in BIOS or UEFI mode. It puts the OS on a read only ISO9660 partition that is difficult to corrupt. Persistence goes on an ext4 partition who's size is only limited by USB size and it will make a NTFS data partition so you can save data from a Windows or a Linux computer

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