Live Pen

[Lucap]

Download all four deb files found here: (live-boot* and live-config* packages)
http://distro.ibiblio.org/refracta/file ... or-mint18/

Download refractasnapshot debs:

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wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/refracta/files/tools/refractasnapshot-base_9.3.4_all.deb
wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/refracta/files/tools/refractasnapshot-gui_9.3.4_all.deb

From the same directory where you saved all the .deb files, run:

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sudo dpkg -i live-*.deb
sudo dpkg -i refracta*.deb
sudo apt-get -f install

Then run Refracta Snapshot from the application menu (under System), or if you can't find it in the menu, start it from a terminal

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sudo refractasnapshot-gui

If you prefer or need the text-only version, run

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sudo refractasnapshot

and you can get that by just installing the refractasnapshot-base package without the -gui package.

The finished iso (isohybrid) will be found in /home/snapshot/
Make sure you have lots of free space on /home. "Lots" means about twice as much free space as your entire OS takes up.

You should read through the config file.(/etc/refractasnapshot.conf) There are some settings you may want to change, such as the filename of your snapshot, whether or not you want to use xz compression for a smaller image, and maybe some other things. If you don't understand an option, you can probably ignore it.

Transfer the image to a usb stick with

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dd if=snapshot-whatever.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=1M

Where /dev/sdX is the correct device name for your usb stick. BE CERTAIN you have that right, so you don't accidentally wipe your hard drive.
You can check the correct device name by running

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dmesg | tail

right after you plug in the usb stick. (probably sdb if you only have one hard drive)

Good luck! (It should be easy)

I'm not sure what you're proposing, regarding the sticky thread, but if it involves any maintenance on my part, I'd like to politely decline. Already got enough stuff to keep track of, that's scattered around different places.

No one will probably know that you have posted the install instructions for Refracta tools as the thread topic is "Live Pen"

I just assumed a thread entitled "Refracta tools" with the above install instructions would have saved you hassle of repeatedly posting instructions around the Mint forum and having a single thread would allow those of us that know about it to point other users to it every time they mention Remastersys or pinguy builder as an alternative.

If you are busy and and don't have time then it's no problem , it was just a suggestion i thought would help, i wasn't trying to pressure you into committing to anything.

Thank you kindly for posting the instructions.

Regards.

[tronisus]

The gui doesn't work but the text-only version works fine and produced an ISO that I burned onto a pen with Universal-USB-Installer and have tested successfully on two different computers (one with BIOS another with UEFI).

As for the gui, it appears on the list of installed progams but nothing happens when one clicks on it. Trying to launch it directly from the Terminal produces the same absence of results.

I tried the whole thing twice, on two different fresh installs of Linux Mint 18 (one Cinnamon and one MATE). The results were the same in both cases.

Thank you very much for your collaboration fsmithred.

[fsmithred]

You maybe need to install yad for the gui to work, but if you started it in a terminal, it should complain about missing yad or zenity. Right now, I can't recall if I dropped support for zenity (yet) or not. The non-gui script works just as well. For future reference, you can run either script with the -d option for debug mode. You get a lot more in the error log that way. Anyway, I'm glad it worked for you.

A sticky with the instructions sounds like a fine idea. Thanks!

[tronisus]

in the terminal it complained about nothing. If I remember well I just pressed enter and nothing happened

[fsmithred]

tronisus, could you look in /var/log/refractasnapshot_errors.log to see if there are any clues? Thanks. Try running the gui again before you check, so that it's not the log from the text-only run. (the log gets replaced every time.)

[tronisus]

The first log (before running the gui) had a very long text that ended with:

ISO image produced: 963824 sectors
Written to medium : 963824 sectors at LBA 0
Writing to 'stdio:/home/snapshot/snapshot-20160715_1509.iso' completed successfully.

then after I tried running the gui this is all the log contained:

This option is not available. Please see --help for all possible usages.
This option is not available. Please see --help for all possible usages.

Attached please find a screengrab of what happened in the Terminal

[fsmithred]

Sorry, I should have said to run it in debug mode. That message is probably coming from one of the commands inside the script, but the command didn't tell us what it was. Please run

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sudo refractasnapshot-gui -d

. That way, it will record every action of the script. Thanks again. If there's a bug, I'd like to fix it.

Note: if the output is too long to post here, run

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pastebin /var/log/refractasnapshot_errors.log 

and post the link that it gives you.

[tronisus]

+ [[ -f /usr/bin/yad ]]
+ [[ -f /usr/bin/zenity ]]
+ DIALOG=zenity
+ INFO=info
+ QUESTION=question
+ WARNING=warning
+ ERROR=error
+ BUTTON0=ok-label
+ BUTTON1=cancel-label
+ BUTTON0NUM=
+ BUTTON1NUM=
+ [[ -n :0 ]]
++ id -u
+ [[ 0 -eq 0 ]]
+ zenity --question '--title=Refracta Snapshot 9.3.4 (20160529)' --center --ok-label=Next --cancel-label=Setup --width 580 --text 'Are you ready to create a live installable snapshot of your system? This utility will create a bootable image that you can burn to CD or DVD. The image will be stored in /home/snapshot.

This is free software that comes with no warranty or guarantee of any type, including but not limited to express, implied, merchantability or fitness of purpose.
Copyright 2011-2016 fsmithred@gmail.com
(portions may be copyright Dean Linkous)
'
This option is not available. Please see --help for all possible usages.
+ '[' 255 -ne 0 ']'
+ setup_snapshot
++ zenity --list '--title=Setup Options' --center '--text= Edit the config file to change settings.
Edit the excludes file to choose which files/directories will not be copied to the snapshot.
To skip this step, click OK with no boxes checked.
' --checklist --column Choose --column Num --column Option --width=590 --height=330 --ok-label=OK --cancel-label=Exit FALSE 01 'Edit /etc/refractasnapshot.conf' FALSE 02 'Edit and use custom excludes file.' FALSE 03 'Restore excludes file to defaults.' FALSE 04 'Don'\''t re-copy saved filesystem copy. (Experimental)'
This option is not available. Please see --help for all possible usages.
+ opts=
+ [[ 255 -ne 0 ]]
+ exit 0

[fsmithred]

It's been a long time since I've tested it with zenity. Apparently, it no longer works. You could install yad, and the gui would work, but there really isn't any advantage. You get to click OK instead of pressing ENTER. Thanks again for posting the log. I'll remove zenity from the dependencies so this doesn't keep happening.

[tronisus]

Just out of curiosity I did install YAD and the gui did launch. Then again out of curiosity I checked some of the "edit" options, pressed OK and got an error message, something like "no suitable editor found" followed by some more complicated sentences.

[DOSshell]

Hallo tronisus,
I would suggest a particuar distro for your purposes.
You can give a try to Porteus, a native-portable distro slack-based, able to boot in seconds.

Go to the porteus website, configure&download the iso (including your password, in case), open the iso with 7z or similar, open the help (txt) and copy what must be copied in a pen (depending on the formatting you might do a little additional config for persistence), download the sw you want with USM and tune your system, then finally you can use your pen with or without persistence, upon your choice.

[fsmithred]

tronisus, there's a function in the script that automatically finds your text editor, but I guess you're using one that I didn't include in the list. You can set the editor in the config file. It looks like you need to set it to /usr/bin/xed (running cinnamon here).

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sudo nano /etc/refractasnapshot.conf

Then page down about three-quarters of the way to where you see # EDITOR SETTINGS
and set the other_editor value, like this:

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other_editor="/usr/bin/xed"

And save it. (ctrl-x, then "y", then ENTER)

If you don't have xed, then replace that with the name of your desktop's text editor.

[tronisus]

fsmithred: now the the editor opens fine (not that I would venture into using it to change anything)

DOSshell : Porteus is VERY interesting concept. I really like the "a la carte" ISO configuration concept but it has some problems:

a) I wasn't able to create a bootable pen, and I tried to do it in two different computers (one Windows, one Linux). The pen loads the inital menu and then says it can't find the files to load the operating system.

b) telling the site what password I'm going to use on my computer is obviously a big NO-NO

c) the site's iso configuration still leaves some things I need to be configured later, so, in my particular case, doing half of what I need is the same as doing nothing

[fsmithred]

Haha! You already did change something. User-editable, plain-text config files are one of the great things about linux. Don't be afraid of them. They can be a good source of information, even if you don't understand most of it. When you look at it again in six months or a year, you'll understand a little more of it.

Anyway, I found the problem with the script. Zenity does not like the '--center' option and fails with the same error message you got. If someone really wants to use zenity, they can fix it with the following command:

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sudo sed -i 's/--center//g' /usr/bin/refractasnapshot-gui

That will remove all the '--center' options that are in 9.2.2 and later.

[DOSshell]

a) I wasn't able to create a bootable pen, and I tried to do it in two different computers (one Windows, one Linux). The pen loads the inital menu and then says it can't find the files to load the operating system.

Did you chech the "install.txt" file inside the iso? With the instructions provided I was able to easily create a bootable usb pen - no unetbootin, startup-disk-creator or similar were strictly required.

b) telling the site what password I'm going to use on my computer is obviously a big NO-NO

From Porteus:
"Porteus is a linux distribution that runs live, without being 'installed' natively like most other operating systems. Porteus creates its file system on the fly, within seconds, every time it is started up."
Hence, in any case the default password for user and root are provided in the iso. You should be able to change the passwords later.

c) the site's iso configuration still leaves some things I need to be configured later, so, in my particular case, doing half of what I need is the same as doing nothing

You can add the sw packages you want using "USM". It downloads and creates a .xzm files for each sw you required, i.e. a sort of portable packages that can be added to the initial list that already includes firefox, libreoffice and so on. You can also setup and tune your system in a persistent way, then at each boot you can you can choose not to use the subsequent persistence.

----
I have always a porteus pen in my pocket, just in case...

[Lucap]

Porteus runs like some hacked together old clunky OS from the 1990's with a modern desktop patched over the top of it.

[tronisus]

Well in my case Porteus doesn't even run, but the concept itself is extremely interesting, I hope they keep improving it.

[Fred Barclay]

Porteus runs like some hacked together old clunky OS from the 1990's with a modern desktop patched over the top of it.

You mean it's actually Windows 10?
Sorry, I couldn't resist...

[phd21]

Hi "tronisus",

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux Mint and its excellent forum !

Bem-vindo ao maravilhoso mundo do Linux Mint e sua excelente fórum

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

Interesting techniques with some of this.

It is really super easy to create a "Persistent" USB flash drive stick (Pen) using the wonderful program "MultiSystem", see quote box below, Tip#2.

But, since you have brought up security and online banking, I would seriously caution you against using a "Peristent" USB flash drive stick because you would be using an installation, live "test drive", version of Linux Mint, or whatever, that is not secure when it has not been fully installed. A fully installed edition of Linux Mint has a user name and password, and the security features are enabled. You can easily install a full version of Linux Mint to a USB flash drive stick (pen) that is 16gb or larger; just select a USB flash drive stick (pen) as the installation destination during the installation process.

Also, whether using "Persistence" or not, you would greatly benefit by using a VPN provider, like the low-cost, and excellent, "Private Internet Access (PIA)" system-wide VPN provider where communications are encrypted & anonymous, and using a "Private Window (tab)" web page option in whatever browser you use to access your online bank(s).

There are a couple really good free VPN providers as well ("vpnbook" , or "vpngate"), but their connections are not as fast as PIA, nor do you get the service, but they do work (no P2P or Torrents allowed). "vpnbook" only has a few server locations, and requires changing their login password every other week, and "vpngate" VPN servers come and go, sometimes daily, so you have to create new VPN connections frequently, and delete non-working ones, and there may not be locations available in the country you want on the day you want it; but they have no restrictions and their login user name and passwords are always the same.

There are also some really good browser VPN add-ons available ("Hoxx" & "DotVPN") which have free access, and low-cost paid for access options, but again the free versions are not as fast, nor do they have as many server locations available, and they are not "system-wide", so applications that access the Internet outside of the browser, are not protected by the VPN connection. There are also many VPN proxy websites available (ex: "HMA") to provide secure and anonymous access to a webpage (weblink), like your bank or whatever, but again they usually only provide certain world wide access locations; you can search for these to find ones with VPN server access to whatever country you need.

For those who don’t know, "MultiSystem" is a small, Open Source freeware to create a multiboot usb drives from Linux systems. Using this utility, we can create any number of bootable Linux distributions in a USB drive. All you need is an Internet connection(at the time of MultiSystem installation only), and a sufficient size of a USB drive depending upon the number of distributions you want to include in that USB drive.
http://www.unixmen.com/create-multiboot ... ltisystem/

To install this using the PPA method, open a console terminal, type in, or copy & paste, each line below one by one:

sudo apt-add-repository 'deb http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot all main'
wget -q -O - http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot/multisystem.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install multisystem


Tip1: You must format the USB stick with the "fat32" format, and give it a volume name, before using this program; not just the default "USB STICK" that the Mint USB Stick Formatter shows, that is not a volume name, so change it to something else.

Tip2: If you want "Persistence" for a particular Operating System (OS) on this USB stick, then after putting an operating system on the stick, click the MSLM menu options, and select "persistence", and follow the instructions. Then you can add more OS's, if you want, but only one operating system can have "persistence".

Another post on this...
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 7&t=211217

Hope this helps ...

[tronisus]

["MultiSystem" is a small, Open Source freeware to create a multiboot usb drives from Linux systems] - I've never used it, bt I've used YUMI, which seems to be similar.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multi ... b-creator/

[I would seriously caution you against using a "Peristent" USB flash] - I'm not trying to use a Persistent USB flash, I'm trying to use a non persistent USB pen that I was able to configure once.

[A fully installed edition of Linux Mint has a user name and password] - I've achieved that (and also HOME encryption!) on the USB pens made through the use of both Remastersys and Refracta Tools, as you can see by reading the posts on this thread.

I've rarely used VPN's and don't really know much about them, so thank you for having shared your knowledge on the subject