Topic: Electrum install to DIY USB documentation unclear (Read 139 times)

My confusion thought I need to install it like a bootable USB.
Figured out to use TailsOS or QubesOS and install Electrum or Sparrow.

OP can check this guide too.

• How to Install Tails OS on USB flash drive for Wallet Purpose

You can't install AppImage, since you just need to run it. But it's not portable by any means, since it'll create files on your home folder (~./electrum) rather than on folder/drive where you run the AppImage.


I don't know what you expect. But based on your description, it seems you open a windows to choose wallet file. And by default, it's located on ~/.electrum/wallet.

Maybe you're just not yet sufficiently experienced with Linux?

The electrum-4.5.5-x86_64.AppImage is self-contained and does no installation. It executes Electrum, not more, not less. Without proper command line arguments Electrum will create its data directory .electrum in your home path, usually /home/.

As others suggested, why don't you explain what kind of setup on an USB stick you want to achieve? Then it's way more transparent for the experts here to guide you into the proper direction. It also avoids guesswork which is usually not so efficient.

In a simple nutshell:
You place the AppImage file in some folder or the root of the USB stick, depending how you want to organize your files; you make that file executable (could be an issue if your thumbdrive has some less suitable M$ crap filesystem on it; not entirely sure here as I use the Electrum AppImage properly placed on my SSD with a proper Linux-friendly filesystem; you execute your AppImage on the USB drive with either an absolute path reference or some nice alias or extend your PATH env variable.

If you want your AppImage Electrum to place its files also into some suitable folder on the USB drive, you'll have to provide some proper command line argument to the AppImage invokation. I would create an alias that contains all this to avoid error prone typing on the command line.

This is not a spoon-feeding recipe as I don't like to treat you like a child. People don't learn by spoon-feeding.

Maybe you should start with telling what you are doing and what you expect to obtain.
Does your USB contain a live linux or windows on it? Or is it empty?
If it's live linux, did you try to copy the appimage and then set it as executable?



This is for opening in Electrum a wallet (file) you've already created.
You probably should do this from Electrum after you've booted from that USB.



However, if you are trying to make a cold storage, you may want to consider read this or that and experimenting more first. No offense intended, but you seem confused by easy stuff (things that others may find straightforward) and if you are trying already to go for cold storage you may make a mistake (go online, or open the USB from an online computer, or store your seed online, I don't know).

What LinuxOS are you using exactly? Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint or something else?
AppImages are not supported in all LinuxOS so you need to see if that is compatible with your, but this works similar as portable file, so there is no installation.

To clarify things, is this the documentation that you're referring to: https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tails.html#?
Because there's no other "DIY USB" article in Electrum's official documentation.

If so, the Appimage isn't supposed to be installed, it should be set to be executable as written in step 7.

That specific "Open" button will only work if you have clicked on a wallet file using that file (wallet) selection prompt.
Usually it opens the directory of the last loaded wallet so if your wallet is in another directory, you should browse to its location.

Check if it's in your "persistent storage" (have you enabled it as pointed in step2?).

You can use the Electrum Portable Version if you are a Windows OS user and want to use Electrum on a USB Flash disk.
Note: Please pay attention to the OS version that supports the Electrum version you want to use, and also see the security advice on the following link: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/warning-about-portable-versions-154451.

Save the downloaded electrum-x.x.x-portable.exe file to a USB flash disk; you can run it directly. As far as I remember, a particular folder related to Electrum will automatically be created there, including the wallet file you generated.

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For Linux, you can try installing Electrum using Tails OS.
- https://tails.net/doc/anonymous_internet/electrum/index.en.html
- https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tails.html

I've tried it before, too:

Never tested the app image to install it on USB the clear method that I know you need to install OS in your USB with tails OS and then install Electrum appimage.

Check this old guide below how to install tails os

- https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/tutorial-how-to-make-a-cold-storage-bitcoin-wallet-with-tailsos-and-usb-flash-5354489

About electrum check the simple guide from here https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum-docs/blob/master/tails.rst

The electrum install to USB is messy and instructions are inaccurate. Running the electrum-4.5.5-x86_64.AppImage on the host computer doesn't install to the USB.

A prompt window says Electrum wallet -> Wallet: default_wallet -> Choose... -> choose the USB path /media/hostComputerUsername/USB -> File name: there are no files, so the Open button is faded out?