I've looked at questions like this, it is set up in the media/user/writable area. It's all set up and ready to go. I just do not have the creativity or knowledge necessary to set it up so newly installed software goes to that installation area. Could someone please point me in this way? I am used to Windows, and, this is my first run with Linux. I like it so far. But, this would make it easier for me to use Linux. I am using ubuntu 22.04.
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Generally this is not possible. For regular software in Linux does not work like Windows. Instead of keeping all the files in a single folder, Linux keeps different components of the software in different system folders. The same folders are used for system components as well as components of the installed software. There is no easy way to separate them.– user68186Jun 9, 2022 at 21:02
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The snap installed software are different. They are self contained. It may be possible to move them to the external drive, but I have no experience with those.– user68186Jun 9, 2022 at 21:06
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What about the software that is already installed? Is it possible to move the non system files away to an external HDD? So not the installation program itself per se.– JakeJun 9, 2022 at 21:30
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I’m inquiring about the apt or snap software.– JakeJun 9, 2022 at 21:43
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2Does this answer your question? Move snap packages to another location/directory– user68186Jun 9, 2022 at 21:46
1 Answer
Linux is extremely flexible with respect to the use of storage volumes, because it uses a single file system, in which, on any location in the directory tree, storage volumes can be mounted.
Thus, yes, you could have applications stored on different storage volumes, i.e. different partitions that may exist on the same drive or on other drives, but this is where you are going to take over from the developpers of your Linux distribution.
In other words, it takes some technical skills to deviate from the default and change storage of program files to a different partition. An illustration of what it may take to move the /snap
directory out can be seen here. Some thoughts about what it may take to move out the software installed through the regular APT
system can be found here. As you see, that really involves dissecting the system.
A linux operating system does not need more than 20 - 25 GB. That is not a lot. I suggest you keep the operating system together, for your convenience.
Instead, it is suggested that you move user data out to different partitions to solve your space issues. This is very easy to do in Linux, and actually is transparent to the user. After moving the data, the user will find the data in the exact same place in the file system! That is one reason why, fundamentally, Linux is a much much more user friendly operating system than MS Windows.
Symbolic links
Simple symbolic links are the easiest way to redirect to data stored on a different partition. These can even be made by the user with the File manager.
For example, to move out your "Pictures" folder to a different drive where you have full access:
- Move your Pictures folder to the different drive
- Hold down Ctrl+Shift, and drag
Pictures
back to your Home folder in another window. - Releasing the mouse button will create a symbolic link "Pictures" in your home folder. It gives access to your pictures just like before. Only are the data now actually on another drive.
Mounts and mount --bind
mount
allows to couple an entire partition to a folder in the file system.
mount --bind
allows to couple specific folders on a different volume to a folder in the file system. The latter two tools need to be set up by the administrator of the system. You can learn to work with these if you acquired a little more experience in administering your linux system.