refracta2usb / snapshot2usb version: 2.3.6
CONTENTS
Intro
Quick Start
Important Notes
1. UEFI support
2. Uh-oh, I previously used dd or cat (or other) to directly image
the usb drive with an isohybrid file. I followed all the steps,
but it won't boot.
3. Network security for static IP or wireless password
4. Multiboot-usb toram
Update the live image on a previously prepared drive.
Explanation of persistence
Basic tasks
Format the usb drive.
Create a live usb from live-CD iso file.
Bootloader information.
Persistent Partition
Persistent Loopback File
Encrypted Persistence
Tools
Edit boot menu
(Re)install bootloader
Patch initrd for rw-media.
Mount/unmount loopfiles
Delete stray loop devices.
Delete live systems from the usb.
Examples
Sample directory structures for various setups on the usb drive.
Sample persistence.conf
Sample boot menu entries
____________________
___ INTRODUCTION ___
refracta2usb allows you to create a live-USB system on a thumb drive
using a live-CD iso file or directly from a running live system. It also
allows you to replace the system on an existing live-USB drive with a
system from another iso file, so you can easily update your live system
with your latest snapshot.
There are advanced options for creating and using persistent partitions
or files, with or without encryption, read-write media, and probably more
by the time you read this.
Think of this program as a Swiss army knife - it's a collection of
tools, some of which you may need, some you may never use, and some
whose uses are mutually exclusive. The main menu is not a sequential
list of tasks, although it may appear that way.
***********************************************
You must be root!
To start refracta2usb-2.0+, run from a root terminal (or with sudo)
refracta2usb
For debugging problems, run
refracta2usb -d
**************************************************************
___________________
___ QUICK START ___
Plug in usb thumb drive; do not open or mount it.
Start refracta2usb and select the device you want to use.
FOR A NEW THUMB DRIVE
At the Main Menu:
Format the stick (if needed):
First partition, fat32, boot flag on. Label is optional.
Second partition is optional. For standard debian-live persistence,
a label is necessary. The label can be "persistence" or other
name that you choose. Format should be ext2 (or ext3,4).
Create Live-USB:
Either from ISO image or from the running Live session.
This will copy the live system to a named folder on the first partition.
Persistent (Optional)
Choose this if you want to use a separate partition for persistence.
(Allows you to save files that will still be there after a reboot.)
Loopback (Optional)
Choose this if you want to use a loopback file as a persistent
volume. This allows you to have different persistent volumes for
different live systems or or different volumes for the same live
system, but with different configurations.
Bootloader (No longer in the Main menu)
If you're creating a new live-usb, the bootloader will be added
automatically. If you're adding another live system to an existing
live-usb that already works, it is assumed that you have a good
working bootloader, and only the boot menu is changed to add an
entry for the added live system.
Done.
______________________
UEFI SUPPORT
If you create a live-usb from a uefi-compatible iso file, the /boot
and /efi directories will be copied to the usb drive, and the grub
boot menu will open in a text editor along with the syslinux boot
menu.
Additional live systems added to a multi-boot usb will not overwrite
the working efi and boot files by default. If you do allow the files
to be replaced, your old grub menu will open in a window for you to
copy/paste any custom grub menu entries that you want to keep.
Added systems only need to be listed in the grub boot menu to boot
on uefi hardware - they do not need their own efi files.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT USING ISOHYBRID IMAGES
If Your Thumb Drive Was Previously Imaged With Isohybrid Image
using dd, cat or rawrite command:
Zero the first 2MB of the drive before running refracta2usb
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=512 count=4096
where sdX is replaced with the correct device name for your usb.
YOU WILL LOSE ALL DATA ON THE SELECTED DEVICE.
TAKE CARE TO ZERO THE CORRECT DRIVE !!!
Run refracta2usb. Format the drive. You'll need to create a new
partition table before you can make partitions. Follow directions
for a New thumb drive. (see #1)
You may need to repeat this procedure, and you may need to zero more
than 4096 blocks.
You also may need to reinstall the syslinux bootloader, and just in
case that doesn't work, you could install the alternate bootloader.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT NETWORK SECURITY
If you made a snapshot of a system that has static network settings
or wireless password information, and you used a version of
refractasnapshot before 9.2.0, your network information was copied
into your snapshot. When you boot that snapshot, the saved network files
will be used for boot and accessible from the system only if you boot
with the option, ip=frommedia. The presence of such network settings
in the snapshot could be a security risk, if you distribute that
snapshot to other people.
Versions of refractasnapshot from 9.2.0 do not copy those settings
unless you edit the config file to specifically allow it. Only
settings for wicd and /etc/network/interfaces are excluded. Other
network managers may store the information in places that get copied.
If you do allow it, and you want to use your custom network settings
in your live-usb, the boot option can be added by checking the
appropriate box when it's presented to you.
MULTIBOOT USB TORAM
Using the toram option with a multiboot live-usb causes the entire
first partition to be copied to RAM. This fails if the partition is
larger than the available RAM. Note that this does NOT occur if you
use an intact iso file with the findiso option (ISO_2 in main menu)
For a live system made from unpacked iso or from live session, add
the following to the boot command:
toram=filesystem.squashfs
For a live system made from intact iso and using findiso option,
just adding 'toram' will work (ISO_2).
______________________
TO UPDATE A PREPARED DRIVE WITH A NEWER ISO IMAGE
Multiboot configuration is assumed.
All live systems added to the flash drive are put in their own
named directory. All the files for the bootloader are kept separate
from this.
To replace an existing live system with a new one, just
delete the folder that contains that system and add the new system
using one of the "Create" options in the main menu. For convenience,
you can delete folders from within the program - select "Delete a
live-system folder..." from the Tools/Utilities menu.
Done.
Warning: If you update a system that uses full persistence, you may
need to delete some or all of the system files on the persistent
filesystem, depending on how different the updated iso is from the
one it is replacing.
________________________________
___ EXPLANATION OF PERSISTENCE ___
A live-CD or live-USB normally runs with a read-only filesystem. In
order to have an area with read-write permissions for saving file,
a feature called persistence can be enabled. There are two basic
kinds of persistence - persistent /home, which allows a user to save
files and desktop configurations in their own home directory, and
full persistence, which allows saving system files in addition to
home files.
The choice of full or home persistence is determined by the contents
of the config file, persistence.conf, which gets placed in the root
of the persistent filesystem. That filesystem may be contained in
a separate partition from the system, or it may be in a
loopback file. In either case, any saved files are kept on the
persistent filesystem, and the system knows to use the files it finds
there. Note that with full persistence, the read-only filesystem
is not changed, but the system knows to use any files it finds on the
persistent filesystem, such as altered config files or added programs.
Refracta2USB provides several different ways of setting up persistence.
The simplest case is to have a second partition for saving files. This
can be set up from the Main Menu in Refracta2USB. Other methods are
available in the Advanced Menu.
Encryption can be used on persistent partitions or loopback files.
See below.
_______________________
_____ BASIC TASKS _____
New thumb drive:
Plug in usb thumb drive; do not open or mount it.
Start refracta2usb and select the device you want to use.
(If you start the program before you plug in the drive, you can Rescan.)
At the Main Menu:
1. Format the stick.
First partition must be fat32 (vfat) with boot flag on.
If the usb stick was formatted as fat32 to begin with, you can just mark
it bootable and optionally give it a label (recommended)
If you want a partition that's writable for saving files, you should
resize the fat32 partition to make room for the second partition. The
recommended filesystem type for the second partition is ext2. For
standard debian-live persistence, the label should be "persistence",
however this program will automatically use any valid label you give
the filesystem. (See #4 below.)
2. Create Live-USB:
There are four ways to do this. In each case, files for the live
system are put in a named directory in the root of the first partition.
ISO_1: Copy the contents of the iso file.
ISO_2: Copy the intact iso file and boot it with the 'findiso'
option. This is useful if you want to have a copy of the
iso file readily available for burning.
Live_1: Copy from a running live-usb
Live_2: Copy from a running live-cd
Note: When copying from a running live system, any changes you
make to the running system in that session will NOT be copied,
even if you're running a persistent session. The source of the
copy is the mounted (read-only) image of the live system.
Bootloader
If you're starting with a new flash drive, the program will see that
there is no syslinux folder in the root of the device. A skeleton
syslinux folder will be copied to the flash drive with the menu
config and help files. Syslinux modules will be copied from the host
system, the syslinux command will be issued, and boot code will be
copied to the master boot record of the flash drive. Doing it this
way eliminates the problem of mismatched modules and boot code from
different versions of syslinux. Consequently, this should work on
jessie/sid and wheezy.
Note for anyone using a different bootloader: If you don't want
your bootloader touched, create an empty syslinux directory in the
root of the first partition.
If you're adding another live system to a flash drive that already
has a working system, the only changes that will be made to syslinux
will be the entries added to the boot menu, which you can manually
edit. You should not need to reinstall the boot loader.
4. Persistence
You can use a separate partition or a loopback file for persistence,
which will allow you to save files during a live session. If you
want the persistent volume to be encrypted, see the section on
ENCRYPTED PERSISTENCE below.
PERSISTENT PARTITION
You can create the second partition now if you didn't already do it.
Use a linux filesystem format give the filesystem a label. The standard
method is to label it "persistence" so that the live system can use
it when you boot with the "persistence" boot option.
If the partition you choose for persistence has a different label, the
program will detect that and will place an entry in your boot menu for
using this partition with the option
persistence-label=LABEL
The disk label will also be used in the menu label.
After closing or bypassing gparted, choose the partition you want to
use. It will probably be the second partition on the selected device.
Setting persistence for /home will allow you to save files in
your home directory. Full persistence will allow you to save both
system files and home files. You can choose to edit persistence.conf
yourself if you want different options.
Other, non-standard methods for read/write access to a partition
are available in the advanced options.
PERSISTENT LOOPBACK FILE
You can create a loopback file to be used instead of a partition for
data storage. This can be set up with or without persistence and
with or without encryption.
If you put the file on the FIRST PARTITION, you will need to use a
patched initrd and boot with the live media in read/write mode.
PATCH THE INITRD FIRST, THEN CREATE THE LOOPBACK
FILE. That way, the boot menu entry will be generated correctly.
Default settings do not require a patched initrd.
To change file sizes listed in the loopback settings window, edit
/etc/refracta2usb.conf. To change the default settings, edit
/usr/lib/refracta2usb/functions_r2u.
USE AN EXISTING LOOPBACK FILE FOR PERSISTENCE
This creates a boot menu entry for the selected loopback file with
the selected live system on the usb. It also adds persistence.conf
to the filesystem inside the loopback file.
This is useful if you make a loopback file without persistence, and
you later want to use it for persistence, or if you want to use the
same persistent volume with different live systems (which may have
unintended and/or disasterous consequences) or if you replaced one
live system with another that does not have the exact same name. The
alternative to using this function is to edit the boot menu and
persistence.conf manually.
ENCRYPTED PERSISTENCE
The live iso you use must have cryptsetup installed.
After you add an iso or its contents to create a live-usb...
Create encrypted, persistent partition or loopback file (not on first
partition). If the initrd you choose to use with this volume is not ready
for encryption, you'll get a warning, and a script will be copied to the
root of the usb device.
In Debian or Devuan Jessie:
If you don't get that warning, try booting into the live system with
persistence. If you get asked for the passphrase to open the volume,
then it's working. If not,..
(This worked with Refracta-7.8/wheezy, but syslinux was from jessie)
boot back to your installed system and
run Patch-initrd on the initrd for the live system. Edit the boot
menu entry for the persistent volume to use the patched initrd.
Then reboot the live system with persistence (using the patched
initrd.) That should be enough.
If you do get the warning about the initrd and encryption, there are
two ways to deal with this.
1. This works in Debian or Devuan Jessie
Reboot into the live system, using the menu entry for persistence. This
is not true persistence (you won't be asked for the password to decrypt
the volume.) but root will be able to write to the first partition.
Run the script (as root) to update the initrd:
/lib/live/mount/persistence/sdX1/update-init-crypt.sh
(Replace sdX1 with the correct device.)
The script ends with nano opening the boot menu. Make sure the boot entry
uses the correct name of the rebuilt initrd.
2. This might work in wheezy, and does work in jessie.
If you can, boot into the system you used to create the snapshot.iso.
Before making a new snapshot, run
CRYPTSETUP=y update-initramfs -u
Then make a new snapshot. It will be ready for encrypted persistence
when you add it to the live-usb.
RESCAN
This will unmount the usb and clean up some stuff. You may need to
run this when you get mount errors after doing several tasks.
______________________
___ TOOLS ___
- Edit: Edit boot menu on completed USB thumb drive.
Opens the boot menu in a text editor for manual changes.
- Bootloader: (Re)install syslinux to partition and to mbr.
This will (re)install syslinux to the first partition and the Master
Boot Record and it will copy some syslinux modules from the host
system. If there is no /syslinux folder in the root of the flash
drive, one will be created and populated with menu and help files.
- Alternate_mbr: Alternate bootloader (install-mbr)
This will run 'install-mbr' on the selected drive. Useful if the
syslinux bootloader won't work for you. When you reboot with this,
you may be presented with a prompt of 'MBR 1FA'. Type the number "1"
to boot. (If so, check partition for boot flag.)
- Patch_initrd: Rebuild initrd for runtime read/write fat32. (patch-initrd-gui)
Select the initrd to patch. You probably want the one that's already
on a live-USB, so that's where the file-selection window opens. If
you choose a different one, it's up to you to make sure that the
matching kernel is present on the usb drive.
This allows you to save or edit files in the root of the live media
while it is running. You can use this to edit the boot menu and help
files, or to save files on a fat32 partition that can be seen by
Windows.
- Mount_loop and Unmount_loop
If you have loopfiles that aren't set for booting with persistence,
you can mount/unmount them easily. Hint: If you have a multi-boot
usb with separate loopfiles used for persistence with the different
live systems on the disk, and you need access to files that are in
the loopfile of a system other than the one that's currently running,
you can run these to mount and unmount selected loopfiles.
- Delete_loop
Sometimes, unused loop devices may be left by Mount_loop, especially
if the task is stopped before it finishes. This will find the leftover
and loop devices and let you delete them.
You probably won't need to use this.
- File manager
Mounts and opens the first partition of the device in a root file
manager, in case you want to delete a live system from the usb or
check to see what's on it. It's a root file manager. Be careful.
________________
___ EXAMPLES ___
---------------------------------------------------
Sample Debian-Live Setup: Single-boot (obsolete)
---------------------------------------------------
NOTE: There is no longer a /live directory in the root of the device.
The system goes into a named directory, as in Multiboot, below.
Not complete. There may be other files and directories.
|-- live
| |-- filesystem.squashfs
| |-- initrd.img
| `-- vmlinuz
|-- syslinux
| |-- live.cfg
| |-- (other files, including boot help screens and splash image)
----------------------------------
Sample Multiboot setup: (This is the default for refracta2usb-2.0)
----------------------------------
Each operating system is in its own named directory. The isolinux inside each of these
named directories is inactive. Only the syslinux in the root of the device is active.
|-- refracta_7.2
| |-- live
| | |-- filesystem.squashfs
| | |-- hooks
| | |-- initrd.img
| | |-- memtest86+.bin
| | `-- vmlinuz
| |-- pkglist_refracta_7.2_i386-20131020_0352
| | `-- package_list
| |-- Release_Notes
| |-- isolinux
|-- sid1209
| |-- live
| | |-- filesystem.squashfs
| | |-- initrd.custom_sid.img
| | |-- initrd.img
| | `-- vmlinuz
| |-- isolinux
`-- syslinux
|-- live.cfg
|-- (other files)
------------------------------------
Sample Combined Setup:
------------------------------------
You might get something like this if you start with a stock
Debian-live image and turn it into multiboot.
|-- live
| |-- filesystem.squashfs
| |-- initrd.img
| |-- memtest86+.bin
| `-- vmlinuz
|-- sid1209
| |-- live
| | |-- filesystem.squashfs
| | |-- initrd.custom_sid.img
| | |-- initrd.img
| | `-- vmlinuz
| `-- syslinux
|-- sid_mar
| |-- initrd.img
| |-- sid-refracted_a19-20140330_2152.iso
| |-- syslinux
| `-- vmlinuz
|-- syslinux
| |-- live.cfg
| |-- (other files)
--------------------------------------
Sample multiboot with EFI boot files
--------------------------------------
|── boot
│ └── grub
│ ├── efiboot.img
│ ├── font.pf2
│ ├── grub.cfg
│ ├── splash.png
│ └── x86_64-efi
|── efi
│ └── boot
│ └── bootx64.efi
├── jessie_ice
│ ├── initrd.img
│ ├── jessie-ice-template-20170103_1454.iso
│ └── vmlinuz
├── refracta8_amd64
│ ├── live
│ │ ├── filesystem.squashfs
│ │ ├── initrd.img
│ │ ├── memtest
│ │ ├── vmlinuz
│ └── pkglist_refracta8_xfce_amd64_rc1-20160923_1334
│ └── package_list
└── syslinux
├── live.cfg
├── (other files)
--------------------------------------
Sample persistence.conf:
--------------------------------------
/home union,source=.
# Use this if you copied /home/* to the volume labeled "persistence".
#/home bind,source=.
# Use this for full persistence (entire filesystem writable.)
#/ union,source=.
---------------------------------------
Sample boot menu entries:
---------------------------------------
# default Refracta boot
label live
menu label Refracta (default)
kernel /live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live
# boot with standard debian-live style persistence
label persist
menu label Refracta (persistent mode)
kernel /live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live persistence
# boot with standard debian-live style persistence
# but with disk label other than "persistence"
# and use network configs saved in snapshot.
label persist
menu label Refracta (persistent mode)
kernel /live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live ip=frommedia persistence persistence-label=LABE
# boot with patched initrd to allow editing of files in root of media
label rwmedia
menu label Refracta (rw media))
kernel /live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/live/initrd.custom.img boot=live mountmode=rw,noatime,umask=000
# multiboot with loopfile on a different partition
label loopten
menu label Refracta (loopten)
kernel /sid/live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/sid/live/initrd.img boot=live live-media-path=/sid/live persistence persistence-media=removable-usb persistence-path=/loopfiles/ persistence-label=loopten
# multiboot with loopfile on same partition and in same folder, with patched initrd
label fakeloop2
menu label Refracta (fakeloop2)
kernel /fakesid/live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/fakesid/live/initrd.custom.img boot=live mountmode=rw,noatime,umask=000 live-media-path=/fakesid/live persistence persistence-media=removable-usb persistence-path=/fakesid/ persistence-label=fakeloop2 persistence-encryption=none,luks
# blacklist nouveau
label nomodeset
menu label Refracta (no modeset)
kernel /live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live nomodeset nouveau.blacklist=1
### Boot_ISO bug: (Note: This bug seems to be gone in 0.9.5 and 0.9.6)
# Adding a patched initrd or loopback file to a folder that uses an intact iso file to boot
# results in an incorrect menu entry. In the example below, the first entry is correct. It was
# created when the iso was first added to a folder named 'sid'. But the entries created for initrd.custom.img
# and persistence are missing the findiso option, and they have the wrong path for kernel, initrd
# and live-media-path.
label sid
menu label sid
kernel /sid/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/sid/initrd.img boot=live ip=frommedia findiso=/sid/snapshot140102_1452.iso
label initrd.custom.img
menu label Refracta (initrd.custom.img)
kernel /sdc1/live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/sdc1/live/initrd.custom.img boot=live ip=frommedia mountmode=rw,noatime,umask=000 live-media-path=/sdc1/live
label persistence
menu label Refracta (persistence)
kernel /sdc1/live/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/sdc1/live/initrd.custom.img boot=live ip=frommedia mountmode=rw,noatime,umask=000 live-media-path=/sdc1/live persistence persistence-media=removable-usb persistence-path=/sid/ persistence-encryption=none,luks
# Here are the corrected entries.
# /sdc1/live is replaced with the named folder /sid
# and the findiso option is added.
label initrd.custom.img
menu label sid (initrd.custom.img)
kernel /sid/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/sid/initrd.custom.img boot=live ip=frommedia mountmode=rw,noatime,umask=000 findiso=/sid/snapshot140102_1452.iso
label persistence
menu label sid (persistence)
kernel /sid/vmlinuz quiet
append initrd=/sid/initrd.custom.img boot=live ip=frommedia mountmode=rw,noatime,umask=000 findiso=/sid/snapshot140102_1452.iso persistence persistence-media=removable-usb persistence-path=/sid/ persistence-encryption=none,luks
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