Custom live ISO with persistent partition

Help
1

I know that it is possible to create a custom nixos iso. I want to create a custom live nixos iso with a persistent ntfs partition (on the usb). Is this possible?

2

Yes, going to take a fair bit of work and understanding of the topics though. nixos-generators’ efi-raw is a good starting point, you’ll have to figure out how to adapt that to your use case.

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3

Hello,

Is there any ressource ready to use to benefit from iso live + persistence on a file disk ?

if i have a partition on hard drive or ssd disk with :

/swapfile file

/perisistence/nixos/persistence file

Feature Live + Persistence Classic Install Virtualized Install
Portability :white_check_mark: Bootable on any hardware (USB, etc.) :cross_mark: Tied to a single machine :warning: Portable (VM files), but needs hypervisor
Performance :warning: Slower I/O (if on USB), direct hardware :white_check_mark: Full hardware performance :cross_mark: Overhead from virtualization
Snapshots :cross_mark: Manual backups :cross_mark: Requires manual backups :white_check_mark: Instant snapshots/rollbacks
Isolation :cross_mark: Limited (shared hardware) :cross_mark: None (direct OS) :white_check_mark: Full isolation from host
Hardware Access :white_check_mark: Direct (GPU, USB, etc.) :white_check_mark: Full access :cross_mark: Limited (requires passthrough)
Flexibility :warning: Manual layer management ? :cross_mark: Fixed setup :white_check_mark: Easy cloning, scaling, migration
Use Case Bootable demos, hardware testing, rescue Daily driver, servers, stable environments Dev/test, sandboxing, multi-OS environments

Thanks for your help,

++

Laurent

PS : My aim would be to easily test nixos on ssd or hard drive from any filesystem type.