Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
This tutorial is the result of an experiment trying to install Manjaro Linux on a USB Drive using graphical tools as much as possible (in a relatively hassle-free way) and so as to create a portable installation which one can carry in one’s pocket.
(Respected Forum members, this tutorial was done using Manjaro KDE in UEFI mode, please feel free to update this if anyone succeeds to follow this and install in any other case.)
Method 1: Using VirtualBox
Method 1: Using VirtualBox
Prerequisites:
Manjaro or any linux distro installed on a computer (Windoze or MacOZ should work, too ), VirtualBox installed along with proper version of the Extension Pack (VirtualBox - Manjaro); and USB support enabled in VirtualBox (How to Enable USB in VirtualBox).
… And a USB Stick (>= 3.0 recommended for usable speed).
Actual Process:
- Download the latest Manjaro ISO you want to install.
- Fire up VirtualBox.
- Create a new Virtual Machine.
- Open the settings of the virtual machine and do as follows.
a. Go to Storage → Controller: IDE → Add Optical Drive
Then in the following popup click add and then select your downloaded iso and then click choose.
b. Insert your USB stick. Go to USB section in the settings of the virtual machine and in the USB controller section select USB 3.0
Then click the add button in the right and select your inserted USB drive.
c. Go to System section and enable EFI (and adjust the RAM and CPU cores assigned to the VM, if you want).
.
d. Grab a cup of tea (or coffee, if you prefer) and get ready to fire up the VM! - Start the VM and after it loads, launch the installer.
a. Proceed through location and keyboard of your choice and stop atpartitions
.
b. Select your usb drive from the dropdown at top.
c. Do the partitioning as you like. For the sake of “simplicity”, I shall erase the disk and let the installer do the partitions. Then press next.
d. Setup your user and click next.
e. In the next screen go through what is written and check everything is ok and then press Install .
f. Take a break and let Calamares do its job. After it is finished check Restart and press Done. - Now shut down the VM. Eject the USB stick, shut down your computer.
- Select your USB stick from the boot menu. If it boots, and I sincerely hope it does, your Manjaro-in-USB is ready for use!
Why VirtualBox is used in this tutorial?
- No chance of mistakenly affecting your hardware.
- The installed USB is a standalone system. It won’t overwrite the grub of your existing system in no scenario (As the installation was done in VM) (Overwriting the grub is a slight possibility when you install the OS into the USB directly from live media in your hardware).
- It requires only one USB drive instead of two.
Method 2: Using 2 USB drives (VirtualBox not needed)
Method 2: Using 2 USB drives (VirtualBox not needed)
Contributed by: @nl.smart
Prerequisites:
A working computer and two USB Sticks [One contains the ISO
file, other one for installing Manjaro] (>= 3.0 recommended for usable speed).
Actual Process:
-
Create the bootable live media in one of the USB drives using softwares like
Etcher
and likes or usingVentoy
For more security and avoid any damage on the hard drives I unplugged the other drives (ssd
,m.2-sata
, …)
The USB keys are from different size
USB key with the image => 32 Gb
USB key for the future OS => 64 Gb -
Attach the two USB drives to your computer.
-
Boot up the live media and
a. Either launchKDE Partition Manager
(or install and launchGParted
if you wish).
Erase the USB drive on which you want to install Manjaro and do create the necessary partitions.
[1] Select the USB key to format
[2] select the partition
[3] delete
Apply all operations
Format the USB key
Confirm your chooice.
Apply Pending Operations
At the end format process this message appear, click OK
-
Next step is to launch
Calamares
:
a. Go back on the desktop and double click on the iconInstall Manjaro Linux
b. Set up your preferred Location, Keyboard…
c. Select the target USB drive in the dropdown ofPartitions
section and partition the disk there as wanted.
d. Setup yourUser
e. Proceed to installation only after double checking everything with theSummary
.
A last pop-up before the install, confirm withInstall now
.
In the beginning the Manjaro install is looking so and describe the process
Congratulation, The installation is done, selectRestart now
Click onDone
to reboot your device.
After the machine is turned off, remove the live media and during boot select the USB in which you installed Manjaro and … voila!
At first boot the user is clearly able to differentiate from the live media.
After a few minutes, you’ll be able to update your new OS.
Enjoy !
[@moderators should I make it a wiki post so that people can correct if something’s wrong?]
Possible keywords and phrases for indexing engines
Install Manjaro on USB.
Portable installation of Manjaro on USB.