Linux on USB Stick

Carrying your private OS with you on an encrypted USB stick is very useful.

Here are my personal notes how I did this. I have written them carefully, however I assume no responsibility for them.

What you need:

• Computer with Ethernet connection ¹⁾
• Fast and large USB 3.0 Drive (Sandisk Extreme 128GB) (INSTALLSTICK)
• Any USB Drive with 4GB (STARTSTICK)
• A current full backup of the computer you are using

Installing Debian on a USB Stick with encryption

• Download ISO for the Distribution of your choice:
  • MINT is easy to get started and looks great: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=237
  • Debian is rock solid and easy to install but needs a bit more work to get started:
    • https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/9.0.1-live+nonfree/amd64
    • https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/amd64/iso-hybrid/
  • Ubuntu provides an easy start, but has lots of software preinstalled which you may not want: https://www.ubuntu.com/
• Copy ISO to the STARTSTICK using dd or on windows use ''Rufus''
• Boot your computer with STARTSTICK. You may need to enter the BIOS and choose a temporary startup device and/or add the usb stick to the boot options. If the usb stick is not recognized, it may help to try different usb ports.
• When STARTSTICK boots, choose graphical install
• Plug in INSTALLSTICK
• Go through the installation questions, choose “Full Disk Encrypted LVM”
• Make sure that you choose the correct drive, e.g. Sandisk Extreme 128GB
• The INSTALLSTICK will be prepared for encryption and erased, which will take some time.
• In the question for GRUB install again make 100% sure that you select the proper drive.
• After that, remove the STARTSTICK and boot into your new system.

Post install work:

• To connect the computer to a wireless network, you will probably need to install non-free drivers. Open /etc/apt/sources.list and add non-free contrib to all lines af