A frugal install puts the Parted Magic ISO file on a computer’s hard drive and adds it to the boot menu of the Linux system on that computer. Parted Magic then starts from that menu, with no USB drive.

You need a computer that starts through GRUB, as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian and most other Linux systems do. The steps below are for Ubuntu and the systems built on it. They work with Secure Boot on, and the same steps start the ARM ISO on an ARM computer. On a computer that has only Windows, use a USB drive.

1. Copy the ISO to the Drive

Make a folder named isos at the top of the partition Ubuntu is on, and copy the ISO into it with a short name. Use the name of the file you downloaded in the second line:

sudo mkdir /isos
sudo cp ~/Downloads/pmagic_26.11_1.iso /isos/pmagic.iso

GRUB has to be able to read the partition that holds the ISO, so it cannot be an encrypted one.

2. Add a Menu Entry

Open /etc/grub.d/40_custom as root, for example with sudo nano /etc/grub.d/40_custom, and add these lines at the end:

menuentry "Parted Magic" {
    set iso_path=/isos/pmagic.iso
    export iso_path
    search --no-floppy --set=root --file $iso_path
    loopback loop $iso_path
    set root=(loop)
    configfile /boot/grub/loopback.cfg
}

If you used another folder or name, change the second line to match. Save the file and run:

sudo update-grub

3. Start Parted Magic

Restart the computer and choose Parted Magic in the boot menu. If Ubuntu starts without showing a menu, press Esc once as the computer starts, or hold Shift on an older BIOS computer. To show the menu at every start, set GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu and GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 in /etc/default/grub and run sudo update-grub again.

Parted Magic’s own menu opens next. Its entries say how Parted Magic will run:

• runs from RAM: Parted Magic copies itself into memory and lets go of the drive. You can then work on every partition of it, the one that holds the ISO included.
• live (keeps the drive attached): Parted Magic runs from the ISO on the drive. It starts sooner and uses less memory, and the partition that holds the ISO stays in use.

Updating Parted Magic

Download the new ISO and copy it over the old one, with the same name. The menu entry stays as it is, and each ISO brings its own menu.

Adding Programs

To load extra programs at every start, make a folder named pmagic/pmodules at the top of the partition that holds the ISO and put them in it. Adding Programs explains what goes there.