[issue]: compatibility with ctDesinfect 2022-00 needs two persistence files mounted at same time

[wwwurst]

Official FAQ

• [X] I have checked the official FAQ.

Ventoy Version

1.0.76

What about latest release

Yes. I have tried the latest release, but the bug still exist.

BIOS Mode

Both

Partition Style

GPT

Disk Capacity

128GB

Disk Manufacturer

SanDisk

Image file checksum (if applicable)

Yes.

Image file download link (if applicable)

No response

What happened?

ct Desinfect is a highly regarded virus/malware scanner ISO updated twice yearly by ct magazine. Previous versions would only look for one persistence file with label "desinfSIGS" to store scanner rules updates. With version 2022-00, released June 4, it seems to need TWO persistent ext4 partitions, one labeled "desifSIGS" and another, "desinfDATA", which stores updates to the base package itself. Booting of the ctDesinfect 2022-00 ISO stops on initramfs terminal prompt if either one of these two partitions is not available.

Would this be in any way possible to realize with the persistence plugin? Currently, it only allows to select ONE specific persistence file per ISO boot.

[ventoy]

Ventoy persistence plugin only supports one persistence data file. Alough the example CreatePersistentImg.sh and pre-built persistence .dat files all contain one partition, but that not means the persistence data file can only contain one partition. Theoretically you can contain more that one partitions in the .dat file.

The example .dat file is a clone of a partition. You can make a .dat file which is a clone of a disk.

dd if=/dev/zero of=persistence.dat bs=1G count=8
losetup  /dev/loop1  persistence.dat

After that, you can use fdisk or parted to create two partitions in /dev/loop1 and use mkfs to create ext4 filesystem in the two partitions.

Finally use the persistence.dat as the persistece data file.

I'm not sure whether it can work for you, but you can make a try.

[wwwurst]

Thanks a lot, I'll give it a try!

You may want to add your comments here to the persistence plugin documentation, very useful!

[marcelser]

I know it's an old issue but it's still open. @wwwurst did you succedd in creating the .dat file and use it for Descinfect? @ventoy I tried following your instructions and created the file with 'dd', mounted it on loop and used 'gparted' to create the 2 ext4 partitions in there with the correct labels. Although I was not sure about the partition table type. I've chosen 'msdos' I guess is 'mbr' partition table.

Then used the ventoy plugson UI to add the persistence file. But when I boot the ctDesincect 2023 with this persistence file it first spits out an error (initramfs) /init: line 555: root_persistence_label: not found on BusyBox 1.30.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.30.1-7Ubuntu3) multi-call-binary

below that I see that the mount usage printed and then a failed mount, error is: there are filesystem-specific -o flags can not mount /dev/dm-1 on /cow

Does this mean that I did everythign correct but persistence files are not supported on this busybox? Anything I can do about it?

[wwwurst]

Actually, I did come across this, which worked for me: https://www.heise.de/forum/heise-Security/Themen-Hilfe/Desinfect/Desinfect-mit-Ventoy-mit-Persistence-File-Bug-und-Korrekturvorschlag/thread-7121948/#posting_41238480

Compatibility with persistence files is broken deeply inside Desinfect, and for a totally stupid reason, which the maintainers boldly refuse to correct - although it would just correct a typo they've introduced in 2022...

[marcelser]

@wwwurst Thank you for this article. Indeed I was able to fix the error they introduced in 2022 with the help of this forum post and Ubuntu now boots fine instead of erroring out initramfs if I boot with persistence file. But still if I use the persistence file I created with the 2 x ext4 partitions with labels "definfSIGS" and "definfDATA" they are somehow not working. I also don't know how to check if they are correctly mounted. But any signature update as well as any OS update lost on reboot although booting now works fine. How did you create the persistence file to make it work? Like described above by @ventoy? Do know how I can check if the overlay is working properly once desinfect is booted?

[wwwurst]

I only needed a persistence file with one partition, labeled "desifSIGS", to make Desinfect 202300 work fully after applying the forum patch. Just tried it again - it updateted from Patchlevel p0 to p1 in front of my eyes and signature updates worked as well. Dont have the 202200 version any more to check if this one needed the second partition, but I can't remember any issues there, either. Also, I have not tried the 202324 version yet.