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I think the title says it all, but one caveat, I'm running Kubuntu if that makes a difference.

So, I'd like to install 24.04 but I don't want to do all the backups or worry about having to roll back the changes if I use the upgrade option, so I'd like to do a fresh install on a new drive (internal M.2 NVME if that matters at all). This way I'll have the fresh install on the new drive and I can easily transfer everything from the old install if the fresh install works out well, or I can just go back to using the old install.

I guess the only thing I'm worried about is how the new install will effect GRUB & if I can get it to work if I have to go back to the old install. I REALLY need to learn GRUB better since about 1/2 the time I have a problem with Linux, it's GRUB or GRUB related - any suggestions on resources?

So, I'm trying to figure out if I can run the installer DVD ISO while booted into my current version/install. IF that isn't possible, is there another installer version that would allow me to do what I want, or can I make some changes on the DVD so it will run while booted into my current install? I tried mounting the ISO but I don't see any files that would "work"..

KDE5FAN
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1 Answers1

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There are two ways:
Use debootstrap or minimal.squashfs through the terminal.
The two ways are the same in the procedures, the difference is with debootstrap you will download all the packages for the new system from the internet, while in the second way, you can prepare the system from the ISO file and/or use the internet to install or upgrade the packages. you can install grub in the new system or just update-grub in the current system. also, you can test any way from them to install the system in a folder and make *.squashfs reboot with a live session to test the system without installation on any partition or USB.
Can Ubuntu 24 be installed on an empty partition using minimal.squashfs through the terminal?
Install Ubuntu 24.04 by debootstrap 

mkdir ~/test     
sudo apt update
sudo apt install debootstrap
sudo debootstrap noble ~/test
sudo mount --bind /dev ~/test/dev
sudo mount --bind /run ~/test/run
sudo chroot ~/test
mount none -t proc /proc
mount none -t sysfs /sys
mount none -t devpts /dev/pts
export HOME=/root
export LC_ALL=C
dbus-uuidgen > /etc/machine-id
ln -fs /etc/machine-id /var/lib/dbus/machine-id
dpkg-divert --local --rename --add /sbin/initctl 
ln -s /bin/true /sbin/initctl  
######all this below lines at EOF in one command#######
cat <<EOF > /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-updates main restricted universe multiverse
EOF
##############
    rm /etc/resolv.conf
    echo nameserver 8.8.8.8 > /etc/resolv.conf
    apt update
    apt-get -y upgrade
    apt-get install -y ubuntu-standard nano zstd initramfs-tools
    apt-get install -y ubuntu-desktop
    apt-get install -y gedit gparted dconf-editor gnome-shell-extension-manager nautilus-admin
    apt-get install -y firmware-b43-installer #wireless driver for b43 you can change it 
##########google chrome#######    
wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
    echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
    apt-get update
    apt-get install -y google-chrome-stable
######################################
    apt-get install -y grub2
    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends linux-generic 
    apt-get install -y casper
    adduser username     #change it to your name
    adduser username sudo
    adduser username adm
    echo "/dev/sda4 / ext4  errors=remount-ro 0 1" >> /etc/fstab #you can skip this or place the wright letters and numbers 
    update-grub    #you can skip this
    truncate -s 0 /etc/machine-id
    rm /sbin/initctl
    dpkg-divert --rename --remove /sbin/initctl
    apt-get clean
    rm -rf /tmp/* ~/.bash_history
    umount /proc
    umount /sys
    umount /dev/pts
    export HISTSIZE=0
    exit
    sudo umount ~/test/dev
    sudo umount ~/test/run
    sudo mksquashfs ~/test/* ~/noble.squashfs

Now you have noble.squashfs in your /home, make /casper directory in the root of the current system, copy initrd.img-6.8.0-38-generic and vmlinuz-6.8.0-38-generic from ~/test and noble.squashfs to /casper, add this menu entry to grub.cfg of the current system:

menuentry "ubuntu noble from squashfs" --class ubuntu {
   insmod ext2
   set root=hd0,msdos3  #change it to be appropriate with current Ubuntu partition
   linux /casper/vmlinuz-6.8.0-38-generic boot=casper layerfs-path=noble.squashfs --
   initrd /casper/initrd.img-6.8.0-38-generic
}

Reboot to test the new system in the live session. you can extract the noble.squashfs to empty partition, solve fstab and grub, or try to debootstrap on the empty partition directly.

Notes: Google Chrome is not opened in the live session, don't try to fix this but it worked when installing the system on the empty partition.

Installing casper is needed to generate vmlinuz* and initrd* for the live session. remove casper if the system installed on the empty partition.

Whether in a live session or after extracting *.squashfs to a partition umount all partitions in /media folder and delete the /media/username folder or sudo chown -R username /media. this is not required when the system is installed on a partition.

If firefox does not appear, use snap info firefox, if disabled snap enable firefox, if not installed snap install firefox

Talaat Etman
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