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Made a USB to boot multiple ISOs with grub2 as described in Boot Multiple ISO from USB via Grub2 using Linux

Works well for Linux Mint 18.3

Now trying to configure Tails 3.7 but not much luck

Tried this (options commented are ones that I tried and also failed):

menuentry "Tails" {
  loopback loop /tails.iso

   linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config live-media=removable nopersistent noswap noprompt toram=(loop)/live/filesystem.squashfs timezone=Etc/UTC block.events_dfl_poll_msecs=1000 splash nox11autologin module=Tails quiet
#   linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config fromiso=(loop) nopersistent noswap noprompt toram=(loop)/live/filesystem.squashfs timezone=Etc/UTC block.events_dfl_poll_msecs=1000 splash nox11autologin module=Tails quiet
   initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img

#  linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz iso-scan/filename=/tails.iso noeject noprompt splash --
#  initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

I get to see the splash screen with the "running squares" but then it stops saying:

(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live filesystem
Toni Homedes i Saun
  • 169
  • 9

1 Answers1

2

I was having this same query and I succeeded in booting.

(As of this moment, Tails is 3.11).

Short Answer:-

Your grub.cfg should have entries like this:

menuentry "Tails"{
    loopback loop /boot/ISOs/tails-amd64-3.11.iso
    linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config live-media=removable nopersistence noprompt timezone=Etc/UTC block.events_dfl_poll_msecs=1000 splash noautologin module=Tails slab_nomerge slub_debug=FZP mce=0 vsyscall=none page_poison=1 union=aufs quiet findiso=/boot/ISOs/tails-amd64-3.11.iso 
    initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img
}

menuentry "Tails (Troubleshooting Mode)"{
    loopback loop /boot/ISOs/tails-amd64-3.11.iso
    linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config live-media=removable nopersistence noprompt timezone=Etc/UTC block.events_dfl_poll_msecs=1000 splash noautologin module=Tails slab_nomerge slub_debug=FZP mce=0 vsyscall=none page_poison=1 union=aufs noapic noapm nodma nomce nolapic nomodeset nosmp vga=normal findiso=/boot/ISOs/tails-amd64-3.11.iso 
    initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img
}

Some Explanation:-

Note, above, the big series of options from after .../vmlinuz to before findiso=....

If you burn the Tails ISO to a DVD (or to a pen drive using such utilities) and boot from it (and press tab at the boot splash screen), you will see those exact options.

An easy way to get those is to open the Tails ISO using an archive manager and open live.cfg or live64.cfg inside EFI⇾BOOT or isolinux.

Hence, the Linux boots with the all the original options: nothing more, nothing less!

A Confession:-

I am an ordinary person and this solution is not my brain-child. The findiso=..., which had it done: I got the idea from here. You may save the .cfg for the future. :-)

Hope this helps you.

a_das
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  • 3
  • Hi @a_das, thanks for the answer. The case is that someone convinced me privately that _it is a very bad idea to have my Tails image in a support writable by other OS_, wich is easy to see why. Case is, because I like learning, I'll try your solution, not to use it but to check it works. It may be very useful with other installations that are not security sensitive. – Toni Homedes i Saun Jan 15 '19 at 09:39