Multiple installations on one partition

It is possible to have multiple Garuda (or other Linux) installations on a single partition using Btrfs subvolumes. The basic steps for configuring this kind of setup are outlined here.

Caution

Like all multibooting setups, this should be considered not officially supported by the Garuda team. Multibooting adds extra layers of complexity to a system that can make troubleshooting more difficult. Be warned that manipulating subvolumes and bootloader configurations like described in this topic can make your system unbootable if you make a mistake.

Rename the default subvolumes

1. Create a mount point outside the top-level subvolumes. In my example here, my Btrfs partition is on nvme0n1p2. Obviously change that to whatever your Btrfs partition happens to be.

   sudo mkdir /mnt/top-level_subvolume
   sudo mount -o subvolid=5 /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/top-level_subvolume
   cd /mnt/top-level_subvolume

2. Rename all the subvolumes. Replace gnome, gnome_cache, etc. from the example here with whatever names you wish to use for your subvolumes.

   sudo mv @ gnome
   sudo mv @cache gnome_cache
   sudo mv @home gnome_home
   sudo mv @log gnome_log
   sudo mv @root gnome_root
   sudo mv @srv gnome_srv
   sudo mv @tmp gnome_tmp

It is customary to mark these subvolumes with ”@”. This convention can be preserved or not depending on your preference. In this example, ”@” has not been used in the subvolume names.

Update /etc/fstab

It is important to get your /etc/fstab updated before you reboot. Take extra care to ensure the entries are accurate.

Update the subvol= values to the new names (i.e. subvol=@ should be changed to subvol=gnome, and so on.)

Here is an example, continuing with the “gnome” subvolume names:

/etc/fstab

<device>                                  <mount point>  <type>  <options>
UUID=xxxx-xxxx                            /boot/efi      vfat    defaults,noatime 0 2
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /              btrfs   subvol=/gnome,noatime,compress=zstd 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /home          btrfs   subvol=/gnome_home,noatime,compress=zstd 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /root          btrfs   subvol=/gnome_root,noatime,compress=zstd 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /srv           btrfs   subvol=/gnome_srv,noatime,compress=zstd 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /var/cache     btrfs   subvol=/gnome_cache,noatime,compress=zstd 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /var/log       btrfs   subvol=/gnome_log,noatime,compress=zstd 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx /var/tmp       btrfs   subvol=/gnome_tmp,noatime,compress=zstd 0 0
tmpfs                                     /tmp           tmpfs   defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0

Update Grub

1. Change the name of the boot directory from “Garuda” to something else so it won’t create a conflict when you install the next ISO. The next installation will also name the boot directory “Garuda”, which will simply overwrite any directory with the same name (this would make our first installation unbootable).

   sudo mv /boot/efi/EFI/Garuda /boot/efi/EFI/Gnome

2. Change the GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR= line in /etc/default/grub to match whatever you just named the boot directory in /boot/efi/EFI/.

   sudo micro /etc/default/grub

   /etc/default/grub

   GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Gnome"

   The directory name is set by --bootloader-id in the grub-install command, not by this line. Use the same name you gave the directory above.

3. Next, run the Grub installation script.

   sudo grub-install ...

   I have put “...” to mean “add whatever options are specifically relevant for your Grub installation”. In some cases, grub-install or grub-install --no-nvram is enough. If you are not sure, refer to the document here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GRUB

4. Regenerate the Grub configuration file.

   sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Add another installation

1. Boot to the live environment and start the installer. Choose the manual partitioning option.

2. Select the EFI partition and click on Edit.

   Danger

   Be very careful with the selections you make—you want to keep the contents of the partitions—do not format or you will lose the first installation.

   EFI partition:

   • Content: Keep
   • Mount point: /boot/efi

3. Next, select the Btrfs partition and click on Edit.

   Btrfs partition:

   • Content: Keep
   • Mount point: /

4. Proceed with the rest of the installation as you normally would.

This process can be repeated as many times as needed, so long as you continue to choose unique names for the subvolumes and Grub distributor entries each time.