Live Operating System Installation Method and System for Universal Serial Bus Devices

• US 20100058325A1
• Filed: 08/29/2008
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Katz, Jeremy L., Macken, Luke J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,424,017 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the installation of a live operating system includes an installation module that automatically detects available portable removable storage devices. The installation module also automatically determines available operating systems for installation on the portable removable storage devices. The determination of available operating systems can include checking for available operating systems on remote servers. The installation module provides a user interface that is populated with the available installation options including the options to select a size of a persistent overlay and the use of encryption. The installation process installs the user selected operating system on the user designated portable removable storage device and validates the installation. The installation can be performed without generating a new partition on the portable removable storage device and without reformatting the device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

detecting a removable persistent storage device in communication with the computer;

providing a user interface to select a live operating system to install on the removable persistent storage device; and

installing the live operating system onto the removable persistent storage device with a persistent overlay.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein wherein installing the live operating system onto the removable persistent storage device is non-destructive to existing data.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

downloading the live operating system from a remote server.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting an operating system that is available to be installed onto the removable persistent storage device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

checking compatibility of the removable persistent storage device with user selected installation attributes.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the installation attributes include any one of persistent overlay size, operating system size, home directory size, encryption or file system format.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a validation operation after download to verify a successful download of the live operating system.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

installing a home directory or the persistent overlay in an encrypted format.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying the master boot record of the removable persistent storage device.

10. A computer readable storage medium, having instructions stored therein, which when executed, cause a computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

detecting a removable persistent storage device in communication with the computer;

providing a user interface to select a live operating system to install on the removable persistent storage device; and

installing the live operating system onto the removable persistent storage device with a persistent overlay.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein wherein installing the live operating system onto the removable persistent storage device is non-destructive to existing data.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, having further instructions therein, which when executed, cause the computer to perform a further set of operations, further comprising:

downloading the live operating system from a remote server.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, having further instructions therein, which when executed, cause the computer to perform a further set of operations, further comprising:

detecting an operating system that is available to be installed onto the removable persistent storage device.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, having further instructions therein, which when executed, cause the computer to perform a further set of operations, further comprising:

checking compatibility of the removable persistent storage device with user selected installation attributes.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the installation attributes include any one of persistent overlay size, operating system size, home directory size, encryption or file system format.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, having further instructions therein, which when executed, cause the computer to perform a further set of operations, further comprising:

performing a validation operation after download to verify a successful download of the live operating system.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, having further instructions therein, which when executed, cause the computer to perform a further set of operations, further comprising:

installing a home directory or the persistent overlay in an encrypted format.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, having further instructions therein, which when executed, cause the computer to perform a further set of operations, further comprising:

modifying the master boot record of the removable persistent storage device.

19. A system comprising:

a processor;

a system memory coupled to the processor; and

a live operating system installation module coupled to the processor, the live operating system installation module to install a user selected operating system onto a persistent storage device removably coupled to the system without destroying existing data on the persistent storage device.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a remote server in communication with the live operating system installation module to provide the user selected operating system.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the live operating system installation module creates a persistent overly on the persistent storage device.