Interesting. Does it follow the steps in the USB_INSTALLATION.txt file? Is it a copy of Porteus' Porteus Installer app? Does it run on Windows? Might help some new Linux users. 
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#!/bin/bash
#
# (C) 2025, Roberto A. Foglietta <[email protected]> - 3-clause BSD
#
################################################################################
set -e
# Comment this line below to have the journal within the persistence loop file
journal="-O ^has_journal"
# This below is the default size in 512-blocks for the persistent loop file
blocks="1M"
################################################################################
function perr() {
{ echo; echo "$@"; } >&2
}
function usage() {
perr "USAGE: bash $shs /path/file.iso [/dev/]sdx [it]"
exit 1
}
function missing() {
perr "ERROR: file '${1:-}' is missing, abort!"
exit 1
}
function sure() {
local ans
echo
read -p "Are you sure to contine [N/y] " ans
echo
test "$ans" == "Y" -o "$ans" == "y" && return 0
exit 1
}
function waitdev() {
partprobe
for i in $(seq 1 100); do
egrep " $1$" /proc/partitions && return 0
sleep 0.1
done
perr "ERROR: waitdev('$1') failed, abort!"
exit 1
}
function mke4fs() {
local lbl=$1 dev=$2; shift 2
mkfs.ext4 -L $lbl -E lazy_itable_init=1,lazy_journal_init=1 -F $dev "$@"
}
wdr=$(dirname $0)
shs=$(basename $0)
if [ "$(whoami)" != "root" ]; then
perr "WARNING: the script '$shs' requires root priviledges"
sudo bash $0 "$@"
exit $?
fi
################################################################################
iso=${1:-}
dev=${2:-}
kmp=${3:-}
sve="changes.dat"
bsi="moonwalker-bootscreen.png"
opt="-E lazy_itable_init=1,lazy_journal_init=1 -F"
cfg="/boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg"
mbr="porteus-usb-bootable.mbr.gz"
dst="/tmp/d"
src="/tmp/s"
test -b "/dev/$dev" || dev=$(basename $dev)
test -b "/dev/$dev" || usage
test -r "$iso" || iso="$wdr/$iso"
test -r "$iso" || usage
test -r "$bsi" || bsi="$wdr/$bsi"
test -f "$bsi" || bsi=""
test -r "$mbr" || mbr="$wdr/$mbr"
test -r "$mbr" || missing "$mbr"
test -n "$kmp" && kmp="kmap=$kmp"
trap "echo;echo;exit 1" INT
perr "RUNNING: $shs $(basename $iso) into /dev/$dev" ${kmp:+with $kmp}
echo; fdisk -l /dev/${dev} | sed -e "s,^.*$,\t&,"
perr "WARNING: all data on '/dev/$dev' will be LOST"
sure
# Clear previous failed runs, eventually
umount ${src} ${dst} 2>/dev/null || true
umount /dev/${dev}? 2>/dev/null || true
declare -i tms=$(date +%s%N)
# Write MBR and basic partition table
zcat ${mbr} >/dev/${dev}; waitdev ${dev}1
# Prepare partitions and filesystems
mkfs.vfat -n Porteus /dev/${dev}1
printf "n\np\n2\n\n\nw\n" | fdisk /dev/${dev}; waitdev ${dev}2
mke4fs "Portdata" /dev/${dev}2
# Mount source and destination devices
mkdir -p ${dst} ${src}; mount /dev/${dev}1 ${dst}
mount -o loop ${iso} ${src}
# Copying Porteus files from ISO file
cp -arf ${src}/* ${dst}
sync -f ${dst}${cfg} &
# Creating persistence loop filesystem
dd if=/dev/zero count=1 seek=${blocks} of=${sve}
mke4fs "changes" ${sve} ${journal}
# Moving persistence and configure it
perr "INFO: waiting for fsdata synchronisation..."
wait
test -r ${dst}${cfg} || missing ${dst}${cfg}
if test -n "${bsi}" && cp -f ${bsi} ${dst}/boot/syslinux/porteus.png;
then echo "INFO: custom boot screen background '${bsi}' copied"; fi
sed -e "s,APPEND changes=/porteus$,&/${sve} ${kmp}," -i ${dst}${cfg}
grep -n "changes=/porteus/${sve}" ${dst}${cfg}
mv -f ${sve} ${dst}/porteus/
# Umount source and eject USB device
perr "INFO: waiting for umount synchronisation..."
umount ${src} ${dst}
eject /dev/${dev}
set +xe
# Say goodbye and exit
echo
let tms=($(date +%s%N)-$tms+500000000)/1000000000
echo "INFO: Installation completed in $tms seconds"
echo
echo "DONE: bootable USB key ready to be removed safely"
echo
It is open source, thus you can check it by your own eyes and test in a live distro, just in case.
Thanks.
What are you talking about? I am THE developer of that script and I am testing with my root account of my main Ubuntu system. A mistake and I might wipe all my stuff!
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Looking forward to what you are developing. wget -O- $url | sudo dd bs=1M of=/dev/sdb 
You're the one who said:
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guest@porteus:~$ ./USBinstaller.sh
total 4.0M
srwxrwxrwx 1 1000 0 Mar 20 16:52 dbus-XjfvhIh1KA
-rw-r--r-- 1 1000 3.7M Mar 20 16:57 eb968a1a-355d-4ff3-b5d6-35548db4e325.zip
-rwxr-xr-x 1 1000 291K Mar 20 17:21 usbinstall.sh
/tmp/usbinstall.sh: line 7: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
/tmp/usbinstall.sh: line 7: `<!DOCTYPE html>'
guest@porteus:~$ Code: Select all
#!/bin/sh
# https://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?p=102389
# wget download-url -O output-location-and-filename --no-use-server-timestamps
wget https://github.com/robang74/porteus-usb-installer/blob/main/porteus-usb-install.sh -O /tmp/usbinstall.sh 2>/dev/null
chmod +x /tmp/*sh
ls -hon /tmp
read
sh /tmp/usbinstall.sh 
For sure!
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git clone https://github.com/robang74/porteus-usb-installer.git
cd porteus-usb-installer
git pull # only when you want to sync with the repo
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wget https://github.com/robang74/porteus-usb-installer/archive/refs/tags/v0.2.5.tar.gz
mkdir porteus-usb-install-v0.2.5
tar xvzf v0.2.5.tar.gz -C porteus-usb-install-v0.2.5
cd porteus-usb-install-v0.2.5
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url=https://linux.rz.rub.de/porteus/x86_64/current/Porteus-MATE-v5.01-x86_64.iso
wget -O- $url | sudo dd bs=1M of=/dev/sdb
sudo eject /dev/sdb
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RUNNING: porteus-usb-install.sh Porteus-MATE-v5.01-x86_64.iso into /dev/sdb with kmap=it
Disk /dev/sdb: 114.6 GiB, 123048296448 bytes, 240328704 sectors
Disk model: SanDisk 3.2Gen1
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x25c632fa
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 * 0 876543 876544 428M 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
WARNING: all data on '/dev/sdb' will be LOST
Are you sure to continue [N/y] y
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#!/bin/sh
# https://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?p=102389
# https://github.com/robang74/porteus-usb-installer/tags ***** Note Current version
if [ `whoami` != "root" ]; then
echo "Enter root's password" $(tput bold)$(tput setaf 2) # 1-red, 2-green, 6-cyan, 7-white
su -c "sh $0 $1 $2"; exit
fi
echo $(tput sgr0)
wget https://github.com/robang74/porteus-usb-installer/archive/refs/tags/v0.3.6.zip -O /tmp/git.zip 2>/dev/null
7z x -y /tmp/git.zip -o/tmp 2>/dev/null
cd /tmp/porteus-usb-installer*
chmod +x *sh
ls -hon
read
echo "porteus-usb-install.sh" && echo " "
sh porteus-usb-install.sh
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-rwxr-xr-x 1 1000 4.1K Mar 20 18:05 porteus-usb-install.sh
WARNING: the script 'porteus-usb-install.sh' requires root priviledges
We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:
#1) Respect the privacy of others.
#2) Think before you type.
#3) With great power comes great responsibility.
For security reasons, the password you type will not be visible.
Password:
sudo: timed out reading password
sudo: a password is required
guest@porteus:~$ 
YES And why my next posting will be much later.
This `sh *.sh` is a VERY BAD way of proceeding. IMHO.
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wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robang74/porteus-usb-installer/refs/heads/main/porteus-net-install.sh
sudo -k; DEVEL=1 bash porteus-net-install.sh [/dev/sdX] [it]
The `set -e` is there also for a reason. Checking that all stuff is in place is the LAST thing to do, because until it's done things might get in or out. Plus, using the BSD 3-clauses as license, rather than a "GPLv2 or later" I am impliciting claiming that "what you get is AS-IS". Finally, when I am saying "it uses bashism but in the long run I want it running with busybox a/sh", I am suggesting that a static linked parser in an AppImage-like binary is the way to port it to a broader set of systems. In this case there is no "sanity check" to do because everything is included into a single executable binary.ncmprhnsbl wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025, 05:15add a "sanity check", ie. check for the necessary utilities on the host system, say, with which
First of all /porteus/porteus-v5.0-x86_64.cfg file is a nice way to go but it is porteus-specific while a kernel argument works for every Linux system despite its application might vary depending from the bootloader to the bootloader. So, no - I did not read the porteous documentation neither I am gonna to knee the porteus way to do - for me porteus is just another Linux system and that's all. The same for the bootloader but one piece at time, so the boot loader being lower-level, it is still ruling as long as it serves its purposes.ncmprhnsbl wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025, 05:15i notice you include the keymap cheatcode, this can be used in the /porteus/porteus-v5.0-x86_64.cfg file, which would make it work across all boot entries.
same for timezone= cheat, which might be nice to include as an option.
Everything is possible, but then you should ask the porteus’ dev team why they did not do it in such a way as per default way to go. Again, I am not to teach them anything. I take what they did and I provide myself a reasonable way to customise and use it. Probably, they did this in their installation tools. Which again, I did not consider but once I boot into RAMFS mode, it might be THAT way, the way the imagined to go to create an installation. Because as you can imagine when a system runs on an ext4 while the boot is into VFAT32, that it is not anymore a live but a fully installed system.ncmprhnsbl wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025, 05:15question: am i correct that two partitions are created 1st. fat32, 2nd. ext4 ?
if that's the case, it's possible to place the {boot,EFI} folders on 1st and the porteus folder on 2nd, which would enable folder persistence, without the need for a .dat container.. (at least, as an option)
Which is part of the customization in RAMFS. Why should I have to make a lot of choices for the user? Let him/her boot in RAMFS, customise his/her system and give the chance to create a bootable USB stick to run it out-of-their-pockets. Which is probably - exactly - what the porteus DEV team did in providing an installation GUI into porteus itself but I did not even care to give it a try.ncmprhnsbl wrote: ↑21 Mar 2025, 05:15another one: option to download a browser module from the mirror/modules folder and place it in porteus/modules
