best way to install Ubuntu on external hard drive?

[Liam Proven]

On Mon, 24 Feb 2020 at 20:18, M. Fioretti <mfioretti at nexaima.net> wrote:
>
> At this point, the only way I can think at the end of a long day to
> get Ubuntu on that computer is to take off the drive, connect it to
> another computer, and install from there. Something like this (for SUSE, but is a generic process)
>
> https://www.suse.com/c/how-create-external-usb-bootable-linux-hard-drive-without-dual-boot/

I've blogged about this. My way of doing it uses a VM.

https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/50416.html

It avoids the issue of GRUB on the hard disk containing entries for
the OS on the USB, and _vice versa_. The thing is that you must be
careful when installing updates on the USB install: if it updates the
kernel or initrd, it will re-run `update-grub` and then the problem
re-appears.

Workarounds:
* as per the SUSE page, disable the HD in the firmware
* only update withing the VM you used to create it


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