[lubuntu-users] Rebuild 19.10 iso enlarge usr

[Nio Wiklund]

Den 2020-02-05 kl. 04:39, skrev Harry Putnam:
> Nio Wiklund <wiklund.olle at gmail.com>
> writes:
>> Sorry if I misunderstand the problem that you describe. Please explain.
>>
>> The size of the partitions in a live system (when booted from an iso
>> file) and the size of the corresponding partition in the installed
>> system are rather independent of each other. The size in the installed
>> system depends mainly on what drive space is available (or what you
>> decide to allocate). This should be the case in a virtual machine as
>> well as on bare metal (directly in a computer).
> 
> Thanks for your reply.
> 
> Here I'm attempting to clarify what I'm after as requested.
> 
> Probably going at this all wrong but:
> 
> When installing from 19.10 and many other iso disks.  I want to
> install a number of packages to the install media in preparation for
> installing OS.  The size of things once onto an OS are not a concern
> here.
> 
> The amount of space inside the live media seems to be quite
> limited.... I'm not sure what that size actually is but it does not
> really tell the true tale when `df -h' is called.  At any rate I run
> out of space to install tools on the install media. (Prior to
> installing an OS to disk)
> 
> So briefly put, I want to install an untoward amount of software onto
> the install media before ever getting to installing anything to disk.
> 
> Probably much more than is reasonable but disregarding what is
> reasonable or not, how can I rework the iso so that I do not run out
> of room inside the live media.

Hi Harry,

The size of RAM drive allocated to a live (live-only) system is usually 
approximately half the the RAM installed in the computer (typically 1,9 
GiB if there total RAM size is 4 GIB).

If you want more, you can create a persistent live drive where you are 
only limited by the available drive size (in the USB pendrive or memory 
card or SSD connected via USB). In this case you can not only have more 
drive space for installed programs and downloaded files, but also 
persistence, that is, the things you added to the system will still be 
there after shutdown and reboot.

You can use mkusb to create persistent live drives of Ubuntu and Ubuntu 
family flavours (e.g. Lubuntu) as well as Debian live iso files.

-o-

In a virtual machine things are a bit different. You boot directly from 
an iso file like it were a DVD disk. I don't think you can boot a 
Virtualbox virtual machine from USB, but I have done that with a KVM + 
Virtmanager machine.

What might work also with Virtualbox (I have not tested, but I think it 
might work) is to create a virtual disk with a partition with an ext4 
file system and the label 'casper-rw'. Then, when booting, enter the 
syslinux or grub menu and add the boot option 'persistent', and continue 
booting. The live system should find the 'casper-rw' partition and use 
it, at least if you use Lubuntu 19.10 or Lubuntu Focal, probably also 
Lubuntu 18.04.x LTS.

Best regards
Nio