Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Last month I put up a link to a Google Form, in order to collect requests from readers. A great deal of you have responded already (by the time of writing, just over a week has passed). Judging by the responses already present, there seems to be a great deal of interest in how to install Linux on an external hard drive. As such, I will run through the process this month, and pick another response for next month's article.
Step 1 – Tools: Make sure your PC/Laptop supports booting from USB. If not, this article is not for you. Any UEFI devices should handle booting from USB, as well as most new BIOS machines. If in doubt, a quick Google search (or a browse through the UEFI/BIOS setup pages) will generally give you an answer. A DVD/USB/CD of the Linux distribution you wish to install. An external drive (either formatted for the installation, or one you can completely wipe). If your computer can work with USB 3.0, it will help general performance. Knowledge whether your device is a UEFI machine (Apple devices, and most Windows 8 devices are all UEFI based).
Step 2 – Boot from your LiveCD: Depending on your computer, it may automatically try to boot from a CD if one is detected – otherwise there should be a key displayed at boot that you need to press to enter a boot menu. If this is also missing, change the order of your devices in the BIOS/UEFI Setup instead. This changes from device to device, and should be explained in the user manual for your device (or motherboard, if it's a custom machine). Worst comes to worst, the answer will probably be found with a quick Google search. If you happen to be doing this on an Apple computer, it's the same on any model. Simply hold the alt key while the computer boots (immediately after hitting the power button, press and hold alt). It will then give you a list of devices to choose from.
If you are running a UEFI machine, make sure to choose the entry that reads “UEFI” or “EFI Boot” or anything referring to EFI. Failure to do this will result in booting a typical BIOS system, causing issues when installing an EFI bootloader.
Step 3 – Finding your external drive: Once your live environment is booted, plug in the external drive (if you haven't already), and make note of the size, device (i.e. /dev/sdb), and any partitions you don't want to delete. This helps to avoid confusion when formatting the drive. After taking note of this information, you're ready to start the installation process.
Step 4 – Installation: This step is distribution-dependant, and is not at all different from an actual installation, save for two small notes. Make sure the hard drive you select is the external one, and not the internal drive. When configuring/installing a boot manager, it's best to use UUIDs, instead of device names (i.e. /dev/sdb), as they may change from machine to machine, while UUIDs will not.
Step 5 – Testing the installation: This is similar to step 2 – instead of selecting the LiveCD though, you want to select your external drive. Give it time to boot up, and then you are free to start working (so long as no further steps are necessary to complete the installation).
Notes: If you plan on using this external drive on multiple machines, you may want to consider using VESA drivers instead of anything specific to a device. If you're in need of a USB-sized, portable Linux distribution for troubleshooting/security/peace of mind, you may be better off creating a persistent Live USB instead. As always, I hope at least some of you have found this article both interesting and helpful. If you have any specific questions (or suggestions), feel free to email them to me at lswest34+fcm@gmail.com. Also, the form for my FCM#84 C&C article is still open, and can be found here: goo.gl/jerzKH.