[Tails-dev] next big features: status update

Hi,

some of us have been spending quite some time on implementing
persistence support, as well as some of its prerequisites
(tails-greeter, USB installer).

The goal is to have basic implementations of this ready in time for
Tails 0.11; the big feature freeze is March 20, so *now* is the right
time to understand what's happening, test what has already been done,
and to comment on this stuff.

To start with, having a good read of our main persistence wiki page is
probably needed to get the big picture and avoid misunderstandings:
https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/

All info about Git repositories is supposed to be on
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/git/, please report any
missing bits.

The general testing process would be:

  1. use the USB installer to install Tails on a USB stick
  2. boot the newly installed Tails
  3. use tails-persistence-setup to bootstrap a persistence container
  4. "configure which bits are persistent" is not implemented yet,
     so create a live.persist file in the TailsData filesystem:
     https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index7h3
  5. reboot
  6. enable persistence in tails-greeter
  7. enjoy

USB installer
=============

* wiki: https://tails.boum.org/todo/usb_install_and_upgrade/
* todo: https://tails.boum.org/todo/usb_install_and_upgrade/todo/

Testing:

  1. boot Tails 0.10.x
  2. get the latest liveusb-creator snapshot package in the
     feature/usb_installer branch of the main Tails
  3. install this .deb into Tails
  4. run "Clone Tails" from Applications -> Tails menu.
  5. try other options (install from ISO, upgrade from ISO) that can
     be found in Applications -> Tails menu.

bootstrap persistent storage
============================

* wiki: https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index9h3
* todo: https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index1h4

Status: Mostly working.
Testing: https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index2h4


tails-greeter / enable persistence at boot time
===============================================

* wiki:
- https://tails.boum.org/todo/TailsGreeter/
- https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index11h3
* todo:
- https://tails.boum.org/todo/TailsGreeter/issues/
- https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index7h4

Status: Mostly working.
Testing: https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index8h4


persistence backend
===================

* wiki: https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index6h2

Status: done, needs to be merged upstream.


configure which bits are persistent
===================================

* wiki: https://tails.boum.org/todo/persistence/#index10h3

Nothing done yet but a bit of drafting / scoping. See wiki page,
comments welcome, but please keep in mind this is very early.


Cheers,
--
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