Portable Linux

The portable Linux distributions described below allow you to temporarily run a Linux system on your computer without actually installing it permanently on your hard drive. Therefore, you can try Linux without running the risk of losing your data during a regular hard drive installation (please see the warning below).

In the Introduction to UNIX course, Labs 10 (User Account Management) and 11 (File Systems) require you to issue commands in a Linux system as the user "root" -- the system administrator. You can't do that on the SRJC Student server, so you'll need to run your own installation of Linux, to which you have "root" adminstrator access.  You can use one of the options below to accomplish that, with minimal risk to your existing system.

WARNING:  If you still want to perform a permanent hard drive installation of Linux, and you never done so before, then don't install it on on the hard drive of your regular computer that you use every day.  Even though it's possible to install Linux on the same computer as MS Windows or Mac OS, a mistake could wipe out everything.  If you want to install Linux on a computer's hard drive, do it on a separate computer that doesn't contain anything of value.  Only when you've had plenty of experience with Linux installations should you consider installing it on your regular computer, and then you should prepare for the worst and first back up the entire hard drive.  Even if you don't make any mistakes, a flaw in the installation routine could destroy your system contents.

1. Live CD/DVD Distributions

A live CD or DVD runs Linux from the optical disc and a temporary RAM drive, but doesn't install on your hard drive.  However, you'll need a high-speed internet connection to download the ISO image file (downloading a 700 MB file by dial-up would take about three days). Here are links, including how to get root (administrator) access:

2. USB Flash Drive Distributions

For distributions that can run from a USB memory key, flash drive or pen drive, see the Pen Drive Linux site.

3. Virtual Machines

Particularly with Live CD versions, you may be able to run Linux in a "virtual machine" window without rebooting your regular operating system. 

• The free, open-source VirtualBox, from Sun Microsystems, works well for running ISO CD image files of Linux distributions such as Knoppix, Ubuntu, and Slax (see above).  VirtualBox runs on Windows, Mac OS X for Intel, many Linux distributions, and OpenSolaris UNIX.
• Installing Ubuntu inside Windows using VirtualBox from Ubuntucat (Note:  Download from VirtualBox to get the latest version.)

• The Pen Drive Linux site contains virtual machine directions for running several Linux varieties in a window.

• Microsoft's free Virtual PC 2007 for Windows XP and Vista may work for some Linux distributions.

• If you have a Mac with the commercial product Parallels, or if you have a PC with VMware, give it a try.

4. Your Own Linux Computer

If you already have access to your own UNIX or Linux computer -- to which you can log in as root -- you may use it for the above lab exercises.