Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

GRB · 2026-03-31 12:54

Is there a way to gain functional persistence with Q4OS launched from a Ventoy USB stick? I tried it with the casper.dat file, and it didn't work.

q4osteam · 2026-03-31 13:44

We are not sure how to make a persistence on Ventoy. As Q4OS is a Debian derivative, if you find a way for Debian, it should work for Q4OS as well. We would recommend you to ask support on Ventoy forum or developers.

seb3773 · 2026-03-31 13:49

q4osteam wrote:

We are not sure how to make a persistence on Ventoy. As Q4OS is a Debian derivative, if you find a way for Debian, it should work for Q4OS as well. We would recommend you to ask support on Ventoy forum or developers.

I can help you if you want, I did this for my q4rescue project.

Here's an extract from the wiki:

# Persistence with ventoy:
In the case you're booting q4rescue with the help of ventoy:

For a persistence partition, when install Ventoy, you can enable and set the reserved space with "Option" ---> "Partition Configuration" (Windows) or "-r" option (Linux). Then, you can create a persistence partition like explained before in this free space.

For a persistence file, you have too the option to set reserved space at installation, format it and put the persistence file in this partition (although this is not really 'efficient', it's better in this case to directly create a persistence partition in this reserved space). If you don't have reserved space, or just want to put the persistence file in the "root" partition (ventoy), you will have to use the persistence plugin configuration for ventoy:
First, you need to download a persistence image, here: https://github.com/ventoy/backend/releases
Second step, create a "persistence" folder on the ventoy partition, and extract an ext4 image found in the downloaded archive with this naming schema:
"persistence_ext4_XXX_persistence.dat.7z" where XXX can be "256MB" / "512MB" / "1GB" etc... depending on your needs. Then, decompress the chosen 7z file in the persistence folder created.
Finally, edit the file /ventoy/ventoy.json and add these lines (for example we're using here a 1GB persistence file)
"persistence": [ { "image": "/iso/q4rescue-livecd.iso", "backend": "/persistence/persistence_ext4_1GB_persistence.dat", "autosel": 1 } ],
Refer to the ventoy persistence plugin documentation if you need more details: https://www.ventoy.net/en/plugin_persistence.html

GRB · 2026-04-01 15:22

q4osteam wrote:

We are not sure how to make a persistence on Ventoy. As Q4OS is a Debian derivative, if you find a way for Debian, it should work for Q4OS as well. We would recommend you to ask support on Ventoy forum or developers.

MX Linujx has a persistence file that works. MX is based on the same Debian version as Q4OS 6.6 as far as I know. I'm 83 years old and have been using Linux exclusively for around 25 or so years. The last version of WinDO$ I ever used was 98.

However, I'm just a GUI guy, and don't know anything about programing. I can do minimal things with the terminal, given instruction. Would it be possible for the Q4OS team to analyze the MX Linux persistence.dat file to see what they did to make it work. Perhaps it some small change in the .dat file that makes in compatible with their distribution.

I really think Ventoy is the future but the Ventoy developer or team needs some help too. It definitely is not exactly easy to figure out. I tried to register for the Ventoy forum but never received an acceptance reply.

FWIW MX Linux runs almost as well from a Ventoy USB as it does actually installed. Of course there are advantages to a fully installed system, but for lightweight Distros like Q4OS it seems to be the real ticket. If it was easy and simple to run it with Ventoy it would be very ideal.

I was finally able to get AntiX running with persistence from USB, but I didn't understand it in the beginning either. It seems as though you first have to create a 2nd bootable USB from the original ISO and then you can get the 2nd USB to develop persistence. It works and it's good, but it's also a complicated process. It seems to me that Ventoy is overall the best approach at the present time. When it works it's very nice, and It is possible to increase the size of the .dat file. To be frank, I think it works more smoothly than the AntiX method, but I have very minimal experience with what might be the most efficient way to set up persistence with AntiX.

Presumably the Q4OS team has the ability to crack open the MX Linux persistence file to see what's inside, and adapt it to Q4OS. Perhaps with your knowledge, you could even get some help or instruction on what they did from the MX Team.

I don't know how much cooperation there is between various distribution developers. What I see in Q4OS is an extremely nice light distribution with a lot of promise and potential. It could be at the top of the Distrowatch chart with a few more tweaks.

Last edited by GRB (2026-04-01 15:32)

GRB · 2026-04-01 15:49

seb3773 wrote:

Finally, edit the file /ventoy/ventoy.json and add these lines (for example we're using here a 1GB persistence file)
"persistence": [ { "image": "/iso/q4rescue-livecd.iso", "backend": "/persistence/persistence_ext4_1GB_persistence.dat", "autosel": 1 } ],
Refer to the ventoy persistence plugin documentation if you need more details: https://www.ventoy.net/en/plugin_persistence.html

I have several distributions running on a single Venttoy stick with persistence. Q4OS runs from the same stick and has a casper.dat perstitence file which appears at start up, but then ultimately doesn't work. The fact that you have it working shows there is the potential for optimism.

I don't know how to properly edit the .dat file. and when I have have tried to edit it by hand previously, the web based persistence plugin declares it is corrupted. I don't really like the way the web based plug in works as it doesn't require confirmation and anything typed in is just suddenly accepted. It's not a good approach to doing things; but hey. it's actually Chinese.

Is it possible for you to post your complete jason file with the proper edits to show exactly where and how the alterations should be placed.

BTW I can also speak French moderately well if it's easier for you. I translated (non professionally) a Gérard de Villiers espionage novel.

Last edited by GRB (2026-04-01 15:52)

q4osteam · 2026-04-01 18:54

We’ll review the options, thanks for the suggestions. However, we’re a bit skeptical about Ventoy, as it doesn’t support Secure Boot systems, which make up the vast majority of machines these days.

seb3773 · 2026-04-01 23:14

q4osteam wrote:

However, we’re a bit skeptical about Ventoy, as it doesn’t support Secure Boot systems, which make up the vast majority of machines these days.

Well, Ventoy has supported Secure Boot for several years now. They added Secure Boot support starting with version 1.0.80 I think (~2023).

And since then, Ventoy can boot on machines with Secure Boot enabled (provided you follow the procedure to install the Ventoy certificate in the machine’s Secure Boot database) and it is compatible with the vast majority of modern machines (never encounter a non working configuration yet).
In very rare cases, you may need to manually add the Ventoy certificate in the BIOS/UEFI, but most of the time it is very easy.

I will take a look, I will be happy to help (need to take a look first as my live version is a bit different from the q4os one, it uses a LOT of tricky mecanisms to reduce size and improve boot time as much as possible)

-------------------------

***Although it’s not really relevant to this discussion, I want to point out that Secure Boot is one of the first things I disable on any new machine, whether for personal or professional use. This piece of crap has caused me a LOT of problems with Linux—but not just Linux. I also have an MSI laptop that never goes to sleep properly under Windows with Secure Boot enabled, and magically everything works fine without it… go figure.
It’s also often a total nightmare for anything related to hibernation on Linux, etc. Just my two cents But of course, I know that for a distro, supporting this system is mandatory, otherwise the installation will fail for a “regular” user who doesn’t mess with this kind of stuff. So not a criticism, just advice for advanced users: disable this pile of junk!

Last edited by seb3773 (2026-04-02 09:00)

seb3773 · 2026-04-01 23:25

GRB wrote:

Is it possible for you to post your complete jason file with the proper edits to show exactly where and how the alterations should be placed.
BTW I can also speak French moderately well if it's easier for you. I translated (non professionally) a Gérard de Villiers espionage novel.

Yes, I can't make no promises, but will take a look, it should be faisible

English is ok for me, thanks btw, but..Really ??? Gérard de Villiers, the one who wrote the SAS spy novel series?

The Q4OS community is full of people with great taste, I see ^^ Congratulations, anyway—this kind of book isn’t so easy to translate!

q4osteam · 2026-04-02 09:01

Well, as far as we knew Ventoy didn't work out of the box with Secure boot enabled machines, however it may have changed. That would be great

GRB · 2026-04-02 13:13

q4osteam wrote:

We’ll review the options, thanks for the suggestions. However, we’re a bit skeptical about Ventoy, as it doesn’t support Secure Boot systems, which make up the vast majority of machines these days.

From my perspective Secure Boot is not or should not be an issue with Distributions running from Ventoy. The way I see it is it's not any different from running an ordinary Live USB, except you are able to save your personal configurations rather than losing everything each time you shut down. I thought the Idea of Secure Boot is to prevent people from inserting and running USB's in a machine in a corporate environment. Personally I think the true purpose is to make it more difficult to install Linux on a machine preinstalled with Windows. I could be wrong, but I thought most distros instruct you to disable Secure Boot when installing Linux. I believe almost every machine I own has Secure Boot disabled, but again I'm old, and not fully up to speed on what I do myself.

What I do know is that Ventoy when it works is really slick and convenient. It turns a freshly downloaded installation ISO into a very usable little system with very little effort assuming the .dat file works in the first place.

I see Ventoy as something that should be embraced by every distribution. However it is obviously most ideal with light weight small footprint distros. I don't think people running Cachy, Vanilla, or Nix would be too gung ho for it, but every light weight distro would benefit from including a working .dat file with the distro.

I don't really see a scenario where a person would be interested in Secure Boot and a Ventoy USB system at the same time. If anything they would want a password on their Ventoy stick in case it was lost and found by someone else. A Ventoy USB should never be able to run on a machine with fully operation Secure Boot.

What we do know is that the MX Linux developers figured out how to make it work so in theory it should be possible with other Debian based distributions. Most every Ubuntu based distributions seems to work with it just fine from my experience.

All that said, I'm just an end user, not a developer. I have no schooling in computer science.

Last edited by GRB (2026-04-02 14:27)

GRB · 2026-04-02 13:42

seb3773 wrote:

Gérard de Villiers, the one who wrote the SAS spy novel series?
The Q4OS community is full of people with great taste, I see ^^ Congratulations, anyway—this kind of book isn’t so easy to translate!

I love his books and consider therm to be genuine literature. I first discovered them when I was in Tahiti on my sailboat from Honolulu. I could read them using context clues, but didn't know every French word. I started out on the project in an effort to augment my French vocabulary, but the end result was it improved my sensitivity to the use of English words. Now I try to be more precise.

The book I translated was "Les fous de Benghazi," a gripping, ripped from the headlines espionage thriller set in volatile post-Qaddafi Libya. Featuring Malko Linge, an Austrian aristocrat who freelances for the CIA. Gérard de Villiers, is a bestselling French author whose sales exceed 120 million copies, and who has been hailed as France's answer to Ian Fleming.

I did it as an ePub and it's translated paragraph by paragraph. The French coming first, with the English translation underneath, one paragraph at a time. It can be used to learn French assuming you know how to pronounce the French Language. The idea was to make the book as exciting and enjoyable in English as it is in French. The hardest parts to translate were sections dealing with Cynthia Mulligan's clothing and feelings. I had to work with a woman to get a woman's view of her psychology. My female assistant didn't need to know French but she provided a proper female perspective of Cynthia's thinking.

If anyone wants to read my translation, I could send it to you if you contact me and provide an email address. Be advised Gerard's books are very erotic with a lot of male / female interaction. The stories are unpredictable and it's hard to know what is coming in the next chapter..

Last edited by GRB (2026-04-02 13:51)

q4osteam · 2026-04-02 20:16

Instructions for Debian with persistence on Ventoy by AI. Q4OS should work as well:

- Copy your .iso to the Ventoy USB

- Create persistence image
Run:
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=persistence.img bs=1M count=4096
$ /sbin/mkfs.ext4 persistence.img
$ /sbin/e2label persistence.img persistence

- Add persistence config inside the image:
Mount the file:
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/persist
$ sudo mount persistence.img /mnt/persist
Create config:
$ echo "/ union" | sudo tee /mnt/persist/persistence.conf
Unmount:
$ sudo umount /mnt/persist

- Configure Ventoy:
On the USB, create this file:
/ventoy/ventoy.json
Example:
{
"persistence": [
{
"image": "/debian-live-xx.iso",
"backend": "/persistence.img"
}
]
}

- Final USB structure:
USB/
├── debian-live-xx.iso
├── persistence.img
└── ventoy/
└── ventoy.json

- Boot it:
Boot from USB
Ventoy menu appears
Select your Debian ISO
Choose:
"Boot with persistence"

Last edited by q4osteam (2026-04-04 09:42)

GRB · 2026-04-03 14:04

q4osteam wrote:

Instructions for Debian with persistence on Ventoy by AI. Q4OS should work as well:
- Copy your .iso to the Ventoy USB
- Create persistence image
Run:
$ dd if=/dev/zero of=persistence.img bs=1M count=4096
$ mkfs.ext4 persistence.img
"

I tired, but without success. For one thing the latest version of Ventoy uses a .dat file instead of a .img file. I tried to replace the .img with .dat. Also on Gitub there is a folder of premade .dat iles, and I tried to use one of ext 4 persistence types but ended up with a terminal error which unfortunately I have now erased.

The bottom line is I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to the terminal. I was trying to do it from within the /home directory.

SInce I was using the casper.file previously I'll try with the premade plain ext4 persistence file on the Ventoy stick, and see if persistence develops.

Using AI instructions has been hit or miss from my experience. Did you actually try it and get it work with Q4OS yourself, or just post the AI instructions?

Last edited by GRB (2026-04-03 14:06)

seb3773 · 2026-04-03 14:30

didn't have the opportunty to try myself but I will do it to try:

Download a file like persistence_ext4_4GB_persistence.dat from the ventoy repository and rename it to something like debian_persist.dat for example.
Next, we need the persistence file to contain the configuration file inside it (else it's an empty shell)
So, open terminal, and do this:
(let's assume usb storage is at /media/username/ventoy for example).
Mount the .dat file to add the configuration (Replace /path/to/ with the actual location of your file):

sudo mkdir /mnt/ventoy_dat
sudo mount -o loop /path/to/debian_persist.dat /mnt/ventoy_dat
and then:
echo "/ union" | sudo tee /mnt/ventoy_dat/persistence.conf
after that we need to unmount it: sudo umount /mnt/ventoy_dat

*something important is the ventoy.json file, syntax is very rigid (beware of missing comma, strays quotes etc..):
On the ventoy USB device, you must have a folder named ventoy and inside it, a file named ventoy.json, edit it like that (adjust to your iso name of courser):

{
"persistence": [
{
"image": "/iso_name.iso",
"backend": "/debian_persist.dat"
}
]
}

This should work.If not, I will try as soon as I can.
Technically, both methods lead to the same result. However, using a pre-made image from ventoy is much better because it is safer and faster: you avoid the risks of the dd command. But the key difference is that I think the AI command is missing a vital detail: debian needs a specific label to recognize the file. So the command should have been: mkfs.ext4 -L persistence persistence.img

Because without the -L persistence flag, debian and so Q4OS live will ignore the file...

Last edited by seb3773 (2026-04-03 14:36)

q4osteam · 2026-04-03 15:17

GRB wrote:

... Did you actually try it and get it work with Q4OS yourself, or just post the AI instructions?

Yes, the instructions work fine for Debian as well as for Q4OS. You also need to label the .img file with command:
$ sudo e2label persistence.img persistence
as suggested by @seb3773, see the "mkfs.ext4 -L .." command.

q4osteam · 2026-04-03 17:04

See https://www.q4os.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6027

Midas · 2026-04-11 17:19

Shameless plug: I'm by no means an expert but a while back I posted a (somewhat convoluted) tutorial on how to "Setup Q4OS in a VHD with VirtualBox and Ventoy" (see https://www.q4os.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3909).

This is a way to run a Q4OS regular installation from a virtual disk -- i.e., a single file in your storage -- with the help of Ventoy.

Note that I haven't tested this lately, but I'm quite sure it'll work with minimal corrections.

Totone · 2026-04-13 07:55

Hello everyone

I don't know if this will help, but what I did for my personal use, to move from one
PC to another, was to create a snapshot of the Unitial system in ISO format and
install it on a 2.5" hard drive prepared with Ventoy.

This allows me to boot from the functional snapshot using Ventoy.

On the other hand, I integrated the installer into the desktop, which also allows
me to perform an installation on another PC.

Regards,

PS: for the snapshot I use setup_s4-snapshot-extq_1.1-a1

q4osteam · 2026-04-13 09:22

Totone wrote:

On the other hand, I integrated the installer into the desktop, which also allows me to perform an installation on another PC.

What way did you do that ? The installer should be already integrated when making S4-snapshot

Totone · 2026-04-13 12:49

Hello,

Before doing anything I collected on
the original installation iso "q4os-6.6-x64.r1.iso"
the “Calamares — Installer for Q4OS Live” module, which I placed
on the desktop of the original installation made and which allows me to
have it in the snapshot.

When we launch the snapshot there is : The choice of destination first and then:

1- Conservation of accounts (for personal backup)

2- Resetting accounts (to distribute to other people)

Either option 1 or 2 this creates an xxx.iso file which
allows you to distribute or simply boot for reinstallation
following a crash.

regards

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonjour,
Avant de faire quoi que ce soit j'ai récupéré sur
l'original de l'iso d'installation "q4os-6.6-x64.r1.iso"
le module "Calamares — Installer for Q4OS Live", que j'ai placé
sur le bureau de l'installation originale faite et qui me permet de
l'avoir dans le snapshot.

Quand on lance le snapshot il y a : Le choix de la destination d'abord et ensuite :

1- Conservation des comptes (pour une sauvegarde personnelle)

2- Réinitialisation des comptes (pour distribuer à d'autres personnes)

Que ce soit l'option 1 ou 2 cela crée un fichier xxx.iso qui
permet de distribuer ou simplement de booter pour une réinstallation
à la suite d'un crash.

Cordialement,

q4osteam · 2026-04-13 14:41

Totone wrote:

... I collected on the original installation iso "q4os-6.6-x64.r1.iso" the “Calamares — Installer for Q4OS Live” module

You don't need do this superfluous step. S4-snapshot pulls Calamares installer on the target .iso automatically.

Totone wrote:

... or simply boot for reinstallation following a crash.

What crash do you mean ? Is Q4OS crashing for you some way ?

Totone · 2026-04-13 19:14

What I meant was that in case of a crash, it's easier to use the snapshot than to reinstall everything.

As for the Calamares installer, I haven't checked it, as I'm used to doing it the way I do.

q4osteam · 2026-04-13 19:17

@Totone
Thanks for the clarification

Q4OS Forum

#1 2026-03-31 12:54

Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#2 2026-03-31 13:44

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#3 2026-03-31 13:49

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#4 2026-04-01 15:22

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#5 2026-04-01 15:49

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#6 2026-04-01 18:54

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#7 2026-04-01 23:14

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#8 2026-04-01 23:25

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#9 2026-04-02 09:01

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#10 2026-04-02 13:13

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#11 2026-04-02 13:42

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#12 2026-04-02 20:16

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#13 2026-04-03 14:04

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#14 2026-04-03 14:30

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#15 2026-04-03 15:17

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#16 2026-04-03 17:04

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#17 2026-04-11 17:19

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#18 2026-04-13 07:55

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#19 2026-04-13 09:22

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#20 2026-04-13 12:49

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#21 2026-04-13 14:41

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#22 2026-04-13 19:14

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

#23 2026-04-13 19:17

Re: Q4OS 6.6 with Ventoy?

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