How to create a persistent and bootable USB of a running system on a computer without shut down.The key would be the same as the computer and offer ways to use it and install it as is on some other hardware.. root rights okquote from chat Unix & LinuxTo keep the things simple, I would like to create an alive backup ...  example  you run on your machine  you have to leave ... you plug the key  you load the command  and then you plug the key on another place and have everything working like at home  so not just a backup  not just a live usb  but a persitent of your system as is.
How to create a persistent USB key of a running system?
usb;system installation;system recovery
I think dd is the good way to proceed.Meanwhile, this solution works out of the box only if there is only one /dev/sd*.For instance, i would suggest to list all /dev/sd* except usb one then make as many partition (fdisk -n) as required on usb drive and use dd for each /dev/sd* counted.From the link:insert the destination USB flash drive in my workstationdelete the existing vfat partition and create a single linux partition using fdiskcreate a filesystem and synchronize it:bash# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb1bash# sync ; syncremove the usb flash drive from the workstation, put it in the target PCmount the usb drive, move the udev filesystem out of the way, and copy the local filesystem:bash# cd /bash# mkdir /mnt/sda1bash# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1bash# mkdir udevbash# mount --move /dev /udevbash# cp -ax / /mnt/sda1That copy command might take awhile. When it is done, get rid of the temporary directory /udevbash# mount --move /udev /devbash# rm -fr /udevNow to make the usb drive bootable. It should still be mounted at /mnt/sda1. First, in file /mnt/sda1/boot/grub/device.map set hd(0) to /dev/sda and in /mnt/sda1/boot/grub/menu.lst set the kernel boot options correctly for each boot configuration, eg:title           Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-6-486root            (hd0,0)kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-6-486 root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=792 initrd          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-6-486savedefaultFinally, install grub on the usb flash drive:bash# grub-install --root-director=/mnt/sda1 /dev/sdaAll done! Now you can reboot into the flash drive. 