Live USB/DVD

[rootkovska]

A version of the installer image that can be easily run from (R/O) USB or DVD.

[marmarek]

Significant progress was made here:
https://github.com/marmarek/qubes-installer-qubes-os/tree/liveusb

It works pretty well in BIOS (legacy) mode.

[mfc]

from qubes-users mailing list:

I had some enforced spare time last week and dusted off some old Live
images for r3.2. They need tidying up but are usable now.

There are two iso images, suitable for burning to DVD or USB.
Both use Debian templates.
The smaller (2GB) is pretty vanilla, with some additional non-free
drivers for wifi adapters.
The larger (2.4GB) has a TorVM, and Tor Browser in an online qube.
There are restrictive iptables on sys-net and TorVM, and MAC spoofing
set on sys-net. The offline qube has libre office and veracrypt
installed.

The menu system is simple, and wont update if you create new qubes.
You'll need to use 'qvm-run -a <new> <program>', or practice working with
the mysteries of xdg menus.

Both images will run(sort of) in 4GB RAM - 8 is better.

If you use DVD then get used to the sound of the disc thrashing. The
faster DVD drive you have the better. (That said they work reasonably well
on an old MacBook with 8GB RAM.) You also need patience - generally it
seems better to start new qubes discretely.

Running from USB is fine. If you have ample RAM you'll forget it's a
live system, unless you hammer the (limited) free disk space.

Both images are available from http://qubes.3isec.org - hashes and
signatures to check included.

I hope to have updated versions ready for 4.0-rc2, along with a tidy build
system, and (maybe) an installer.

Cheers

unman

[mfc]

worth connecting this ticket with the R3.2-specific ticket: #2024

[mfc]

in talking with @marmarek we wondered if we could approach this problem from the opposite direction. currently Live USB efforts are largely blocked by how fast RAM is filled making a Qubes Live USB not practical/useful.

We discussed whether it would make more sense to have an image of an installed system that can be flashed onto a 32gb+ USB, which is the usual approach anyways for testing Qubes compatibility, creating HCL report, etc. this image would also be able to install Qubes onto the hard drive if desired by the user.

I think this is a pretty uncommon approach to OS distribution so I would be interested in others' thoughts and if any other OSes have such an approach (or considered it).

[marmarek]

@unman maintains such images at https://qubes.3isec.org/Live/

[mfc]

could you imagine making these more official? (or what the barriers would be?)

especially curious about how difficult it would be to enable installation.

[marmarek]

@unman do you have a script to make this image, or you are doing it manually?
Installation from such installed image is a totally separate issue. I think Anaconda does support something similar, but I have no idea how exactly it works and what are the requirements.

[hardBSDk]

Why not create separate images for Installation and Live USB/DVD?

This fix the image size problem and bring more users for the OS due to easy hardware testing.

Like ReactOS does using BootCD/LiveCD.

[andrewdavidwong]

@marmarek, is this a "won't do"?