Copyright (C) Kern E. Sibbald, 2009

This directory is used to build a USB key containing a Kubuntu 8.04 LiveCD
with persistent OS files and persistent /home files.

You will need to run as root for most things ...

Packages needed:
apt-get install syslinux mbr


1. Start by editing the "config" file. Be sure to get your USB_DEV
   definition correct.  Note: you can see what devices you have
   connected by running:

      lsscsi

   For example, I get:

   $ lsscsi
    [1:0:0:0]    cd/dvd  _NEC     DVD+RW ND-1100A  108B  /dev/scd0
    [1:0:1:0]    cd/dvd  PHILIPS  DVD+-RW DVD8631  9D03  /dev/scd1
    [9:0:0:0]    disk    Kingston DataTraveler 2.0 PMAP  /dev/sda

   and in my case, the USB device is the Kingston DataTraveler on
   device /dev/sda.

   Alternatively you can do:

       fdisk -l

2.  The scripts you need to partition the key and 
   to write the boot image to it are all in this (usb) directory. 

3. If you ever want to put the key back to its prior state, *before*
   running the partition_usb_key, you might consider doing a:

     sfdisk -d /dev/key-device >save_me  

   where key-device is the key device name (e.g. sda).  The
   output file can be fed back into sfdisk to recreate the original
   with:

     sfdisk /dev/key-device <save_me

4. The next step is to get a copy of kubuntu8.tar.gz, which is the
   USB boot image. Currently, it can be downloaded from:

    www.bacula.org/downloads/kubuntu8.tar.gz

  or from:

    www.sibbald.com/download/kubuntu8.tar.gz

5. Edit the file "config" and fill in the values that correspond
   to your setup.

6. After editing the config file, run:

   ./partition_usb_key

   Note, this script will destroy *all* data on the key, and assumes
   that you have a 3GB or bigger key.  It may work for a 2GB key,
   but you might want to reduce the size of the second partition.


   The partition_usb_key script creates three partitions:

    1. kubuntu8  -- USB boot partition containing the OS
    2. casper-rw -- A writable ext3 partition for saving OS changes
    3. home-rw   -- A writable ext3 partition for saving /home

6. Mount your USB key and detar the kubuntu8.tar.gz image 
   into the first partition.  Do this with:

   ./write_usb_boot_partition

   This can take a good amount of time (5 mins) since it must format
   the new partitions then copy the boot image.

7. You should now have a USB stick that can be booted providing the
   machine permits booting from the USB port -- this can be adjusted
   by modifying the BIOS boot sequence.  On Dell machines, you can 
   enter the BIOS setup by pressing F2 just after power on.  

   Alternatively, most machines let you boot from an alternate device.
   For example if you press F11 while a Sony Viao is powering up, it 
   will boot from the USB port. 

   On Dell machines during power on, if you press F12, you will be
   able to select any boot device (one time only) other than the one
   that is the default (normally the CDROM or HDD).

8.  When the key is booted, assuming you choose the first option 
   (LiveCD), you will be running as user "ubuntu" the password is
   "bacula", and you will be in /home/ubuntu.  

9. Before booting, you might want to remove the USB key, using the
   remove safely mode, then plug it back in so that you can access
   the home-rw partition. Here you can put anything you want from
   your system. However, you must use care to ensure that the files
   are written with UID=1000 and GID=1000, which is ubuntu:ubuntu when
   your boot the USB key.

10. Finally, if you are running with a KDE desktop on Kubuntu 8.04,
   you can copy it to the key with:

   ./copy_kubuntu_desktop_to_usb

   If you are not using Kubuntu, you can modify the script to 
   adapt it to your situation or simply create a new script.

===

If you want to add additional OS tools to your USB stick, there are two
ways:

1. Remaster the iso boot image (a bit complicated) see README.technotes
2. Simply use sudo apt-get install ... when booted into your USB stick. 
   The changes will be written to the casper-rw partition (the
   read/write OS partition).

If you want to add something to your USB home directory simply mount
the home-rw partition and write to it in the appropriate place as noted
in item #9 above.

One slightly annoying thing about the USB key is that the casper-rw and the
home-rw partitions must be ext3 (with journaling turned on), and journaling
is not really the best way to run with USB keys that have a finite write 
lifetime. Switching the partitions to ext2 seems to prevent them from being
written correctly, which means a lot of things such as starting X do not
work.