[lug] Installing Ubuntu to USB via VirtualBox questions

[Bear Giles]

I think I may just image one of my existing systems and then tweak the
partition table to reclaim the excess disk space. That won't work with a 64
GB stick but I'll have no problem dd'ing a 1 TB disk to a 2 TB external
drive.

My research came up with something interesting - if you're using a windows
system you can install the 'portable' version of VirtualBox on a stick and
then use it to run a VM on the same stick. I don't know if it has the same
level of isolation as booting from the external drive. It isn't an option
since my work system runs Linux. (Nearly every other dev use macs. I don't
fully understand that since we're developing software that nearly always
runs on a Linux system and it's always helpful to develop on the platform
where you'll deploy. People have had huge problems once we started
supporting Kerberos.)

A second approach is to put VirtualBox on the host system and run a VM that
lives on a USB stick.

BTW the problem being solved is that I want to use my work computer for
non-work things. I don't have perfect isolation but I try to make a
reasonable effort, e.g., when traveling I've taken a second laptop for
personal use. I didn't feel that booting a VM on the laptop was sufficient
isolation. I think a VM on a USB stick may be acceptable though - since a
memory stick with the 'portable' version of VirtualBox could be on any
system there's nothing specify to the work computer. There's no nefarious
reason, it's just being careful about AUP, possible IP issues, etc.

On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 8:36 AM, Bear Giles <bgiles at coyotesong.com> wrote:

> Follow-up questions to USB 3 vs. eSATA question.
>
> 1. Is the virtualbox image dd'd to the USB drive or is it processed
> somehow? (E.g., I know how to build an image in virtualbox and then convert
> it to an AWS EC2 instance. It requires the use of a few AWS calls beyond
> uploading the disk image.)
>
> 2. Fixed size? (Maybe not if a conversion is performed.)
>
> 3. What type of virtual media?
>
> Thx
>
> Bear
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.lug.boulder.co.us/pipermail/lug/attachments/20180724/780ef8ba/attachment-0001.html>