Adding persistence to bootable USB Kali live

[th-vb]

So I tried adding persistence to my usb bootable kali live by running the commands you can find on kali docs adding persistance.

The proces goes as following

1)
fdisk -l

-> I checked the partitions already in place

* on my bootable usb
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2048 30031249 30029202 14.3G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

*on my pc (running on windows 10)
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 1333247 1331200 650M Windows recovery enviro
/dev/sdb2 1333248 1865727 532480 260M EFI System
/dev/sdb3 1865728 2127871 262144 128M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdb4 2127872 1269620447 1267492576 604.4G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdb5 1269620736 1271472127 1851392 904M Windows recovery enviro
/dev/sdb6 1417781248 1465137151 47355904 22.6G Microsoft basic data

So I want to add persistance to my disk and NOT to my pc

2)
end=7gb
read start _ < <(du -bcm /media/root/Windows/Users/thibv_000/Download/kali-linux-2017-W45-amd64.iso | tail -1); echo $start
parted /dev/sdb mkpart primary $start $end

-> /media/root/ ... is where I can locate the original kali linux is download file
(as you can see I use kali linux 2017 w45)

-> With the last commandline I get this:

root@kali:~# parted /dev/sdb mkpart primary $start $end

Warning: You requested a partition from 2708MB to 7000MB (sectors
5289062..13671875).

The closest location we can manage is 650GB to 650GB (sectors
1269620449..1269620449).
Is this still acceptable to you?
Yes/No? y

Warning: The resulting partition is not properly aligned for best
performance.
Ignore/Cancel? i

Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

3)fdisk -l

* on my bootable usb
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2048 30031249 30029202 14.3G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

*on my pc (running on windows 10)
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 1333247 1331200 650M Windows recovery enviro
/dev/sdb2 1333248 1865727 532480 260M EFI System
/dev/sdb3 1865728 2127871 262144 128M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdb4 2127872 1269620447 1267492576 604.4G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdb5 1269620736 1271472127 1851392 904M Windows recovery enviro
/dev/sdb6 1417781248 1465137151 47355904 22.6G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdb7 1269620448 1269620448 1 512B Linux filesystem (!!!!!!!)

-> So my question now: as you can see there is an extra partition of 512B Linux filesystem.
Is that correct?
Does the extra partition need to come on my computer (and not my usb)
If the extra partition needs to come alongside my partition on my bootable usb, what should I do different?

-> Can I chose the amount of Bytes myself?

4)
mkfs.ext3 -L persistence /dev/sdb3
e2label /dev/sdb3 persistence

mkdir -p /mnt/my_usb
mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/my_usb
echo "/ union" > /mnt/my_usb/persistence.conf
umount /dev/sdb3

-> those are the commands linux docs says I need to do next but I those don't work because the partition is created on my pc instead of my USB.


extra info:

* kali-linux-2017-W45-amd64
* written by rufus on my usb stick (16GB)



Thanks in advance

th-vb

[mmusket33]

MTeams sees you are using windows 10. Suggest you refer to these two(2) links as appropriate.

https://forums.kali.org/showthread.php?26731-How-to-make-a-persistent-usb-Kali2-0-flash-drive

https://forums.kali.org/showthread.php?26839-How-To-Make-A-Persistent-Usb-Flashdrive-When-Only-Windows-Is-Available(Windows-Only)&highlight=persistence+windows

We just retested these steps for kali linux 2017R2 and they continue to work for us.

Musket Teams

[_defalt]

Your hard drive name is /dev/sdb and you want to add persistence in your USB whose name is /dev/sda so why are you applying the operation on your hard drive? It should be /dev/sda.

[th-vb]

@_defalt

Your remark was certainly correct, so I tried with the right commands and write drive names.
Everything works out just fine until after step 3 (=parted /dev/sda mkpart primary $start $end)
-> then my computer asks me to reboot so I do. The reboot is still functional at that time.

I enter the other steps as discribed here

mkfs.ext3 -L persistence /dev/sdb2
e2label /dev/sdb2 persistence

mkdir -p /mnt/my_usb
mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/my_usb
echo "/ union" > /mnt/my_usb/persistence.conf
umount /dev/sdb2

*after the reboot the name is /dev/sdb (but I don't think that is an issue)
*what I don't know is whether I should use ''my_usb" OR the real usb name
-> If I should use the real usb name where can I find it? (is it just the name like 'sandisk' or 'cruzer'

I come to you with this other problem because if I reboot after my last command Kali won't start Kali live nor Kali live with persistence and I have to re-write it.

Hopefully you can help me, you have been a great help in the past.

Kind Regards

th-vb

[_defalt]

OS doesn't recognize USB with your given name. OS assigns its own name to the storage device. You should use /dev/sda or /dev/sdb whatever the name you see in fdisk -l.

[th-vb]

I tried doing that and this is what I got

mkdir -p /mnt/dev/sdb
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/mnt/dev’: No space left on device

[_defalt]

https://forums.kali.org/showthread.php?38194-Kali-Linux-USB-not-persisting!&p=75511#post75511

Show the output of fdisk -l?