[issue]: Persistence plugin does not work for Arch Linux

[agokule]

Official FAQ

• I have checked the official FAQ.

Ventoy Version

1.1.07

What about latest release

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

Try alternative boot mode

Yes. I have tried them, but the bug still exist.

BIOS Mode

UEFI Mode

Partition Style

MBR

Disk Capacity

256 GB

Disk Manufacturer

Samsung

Image file checksum (if applicable)

Yes.

Image file download link (if applicable)

No response

What happened?

I tried setting up the persistence plugin for arch linux, but it hasn't been working automatically.

The file tree on USB:

D:.
│
├───isos
│       archlinux-2025.10.01-x86_64.iso
│       boot-repair-disk-64bit.iso
│       HBCD_PE_x64.iso
│       kali-linux-2025.3-live-amd64.iso
│       Windows11 English Intl. Installer.iso
│
├───persistence
│       archlinux_persistence_ext4_4GB_vtoycow.dat
│       kali-linux_persistence_ext4_4GB_persistence.dat
│       persistence_ext4_4GB_persistence.dat
│       persistence_ext4_4GB_vtoycow.dat
│
└───ventoy
        ventoy.json
        ventoy_backup.json

Contents of ventoy.json:

{
    "persistence":[
        {
            "image": "/isos/kali-linux-2025.3-live-amd64.iso",
            "backend":[
                "/persistence/kali-linux_persistence_ext4_4GB_persistence.dat"
            ]
        },
        {
            "image": "/isos/archlinux-2025.10.01-x86_64.iso",
            "backend":[
                "/persistence/archlinux_persistence_ext4_4GB_vtoycow.dat"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Note, when choosing "Boot with persistence" in the menu, it shows a partition called "vtoy_persistent". Data in that stays the same even after rebooting. It does not show that if "Boot with persistence" is not chosen.

So I was using the following script to get it working kind of like kali linux:

mkdir /mnt/lower
mount --bind / /mnt/lower

mkdir /mnt/upper
mount /dev/mapper/vtoy_persistent /mnt/upper
mkdir -p /mnt/upper/upperdir
mkdir -p /mnt/upper/workdir

mkdir /mnt/overlay
mount -t overlay overlay -o lowerdir=/mnt/lower,upperdir=/mnt/upper/upperdir,workdir=/mnt/upper/workdir /mnt/overlay

mount --rbind /dev /mnt/overlay/dev
mount --rbind /proc /mnt/overlay/proc
mount --rbind /sys /mnt/overlay/sys

arch-chroot /mnt/overlay

However, it relies on chroot which is not supposed to be used except for trouble shooting (ie: systemd does not run so if I do su - username in the chroot then variables like XDG_RUNTIME_DIR are not set, causing errors for programs).

Note that persistence does work perfectly for Kali Linux on my setup.

[ventoy]

Please try this CI release:
https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/actions/runs/20155640785
https://ventoy.net/en/doc_github_ci.html

[agokule]

Hi, I tried both version 1.1.09 and the CI build you mentioned above and they do solve the problem of not automatically mounting the vtoy_persistent partition.

I guess this issue can be closed now.