My main goal is to install kodachi os on an external hard drive but I have a few questions I can't find anywhere else. I would like to do this using Ubuntu.

I know how to install kodachi onto a flash drive and just run the install to a hard disk. I would also like to encrypt the volume with veracrypt if possible and not to difficult. I have partitioned a disk manually a long time ago like creating efi, boot, root and home partitions if I have to. It was a while ago though.

First question before I even begin is if I need persistence for settings, etc? I prefer not to.

Second, will I be able to boot the external drive without changing boot order in the bios? Would this be a dual boot if not?

I'm not even sure where to start or I would just experiment myself.

I just thought about the internal hard drive that I have Ubuntu already installed on. This may be considered another question but it is basically the same outcome I want.

The new os does not have to be portable. Could I create another partition on my internal hard drive and do a dual install?

Preferably with no persistence.

Would it be to late to do this with ubuntu already installed?

I know how to create another partition already. I'm not so sure about a dual boot option though which seems to me would be the only way to create another boot option on an internal disk.

My overall goal is to have a version of kodachi with no persistence and encrytped with veracrypt IF possible. I'm not concerned about having a portable OS. Just having two os's without to much hassle.

Installing to external drive the same as installing to internal drive.

The only real question is when it asks you if you want to install grub and if so where. If you already have grub on your boot drive, then you can use that and not install grub again. Or you could reinstall grub onto that same internal drive from the new installer and thus it'd be managed from the newly installed OS (probably a bad idea unless you dont have any grub already installed on primary drive, i.e. you dont already have any linux installed). Or you could install grub onto the external drive, that way if you changed your bios boot order to boot from external it'd come up there...

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You askec if you need persistance for settings. Obviously if you want your settings to persist, they need to be saved....

You can use guest account to login without anything persisting... everything gets deleted when you logout...

You could use skel (or guest skel) to setup settings files if you dont want defaults tho...

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The Kodachi site at the link below gives a rather detailed explanation of th entire process.

https://www.digi77.com/linux-kodachi/

Generally, a persistent usb will allow you to install and save new software, create directories/files but not modify system files. What type of settings are you referring to?

Yes, you can install another OS on the same drive on which you currently have Ubuntu. Lots of tutorials on that.

As pointed out above, installing on an external drive is the same as installing to an internal drive. You do need to identify the drive and partition correctly so you need to understand drive/partition naming convention in Linux. You alos will have a choice of where to install a bootloader.

If you currently have Ubuntu installed and don't install the Kodachi bootloader (Grub), you can reboot Ubuntu after installing Kodachi and run: sudo update-grub to add Kodachi to the Ubuntu Grub menu. You would do this whether you installed Kodachi to the internal or external drive. If you haven't already done so, I would definitely read through the Kokachi site linked above.

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If installing on an external device, booting with uefi, it is a little tricky to make certain the efi partition on your main device does not get modified and add the entry to manage and control grub for you.

Careful custom config of the partitions can usually handle that during install, but you have to know exactly what you want and tell the installer how to install it. A default install almost always uses the existing efi partition.

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I actually meant if I installed the OS on an external drive, I would have to change the boot order in bios just like a flashdrive.

Now a flashdrive would be a live OS and requires persistence to save settings and any changes made or those changes would be lost in between boots.

So I was curious if an external drive, which also requires boot order in bios, would need persistence for changes or can an OS be installed on external drive and not be a live OS. So basically (ignoring persistence I asked about), will an OS installed on the external drive also be a live OS like a flashdrive? Or would it be installed as a desktop OS, the same as installing on an internal disk?

Thank-you for your answer. I didn't explain what I really needed to know very well.

Doesn't booting an external drive require changing the boot order in the bios? Wouldn't that stop any changes to the efi partition on my internal disk or "main device"?

Even using a flashdrive to install a linux OS by default still asks what partition to install to. So if the correct external drive partition is chosen, that could still change the efi partition on the internal drive therefore manage and control grub? Maybe I misunderstood the answer. Wouldn't a default install on the external create it's own uefi, efi partition on the external drive?

I did read the suggested link above and I did find it helpful on the basic installation. This forum seems to be answering more of my specific questions but I did learn some interesting facts after reading the link.

This was extremely helpful as I thought installing to an external drive might end up being a live version as with a flashdrive.
Thank-you for your response.

I learned a lot from the answers I received in this thread. Thank you all.

I decided to go with a dual boot on my internal drive and will read some articles on dual booting.

I did create new partitions on the internal drive and attempted to boot from the usb drive using the pop up directions. I checked the box to encrypt the new OS. I then tried installing to the encrypted partition but was given the message that there was no filesystem.

I found out what possibilities I have from this post and what direction I want to go in. I just need to read up a little on dual booting with two linux OS's. (So far I can only find dual booting with Windows). I consider this post closed.

Not necessarily, and doesn't matter if its flash or spinnning disc either. As long as whatever drive bios boots has grub on it, grub can boot OS from any drive/partition.

As mentioned earlier, installing to an external drive is the same as installing to an internal drive. If you actually install linux onto it, then it is not a live session and will save stuff the same as if the drive were internal. It does not know or care where your drive is. If you want to get a distro that can save from a live session, there are some that are a few designed for that, but that's not typical case, and again doesnt matter if drive is internal or external, although those type distros are often intended to be booted from usb or optical disc and not ever installed at all.