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Persistence

By default, PAI forgets everything at shutdown. That's a feature: no cookies, no history, no traces. Persistence is the opt-in that lets you keep some things — your files, your Wi-Fi passwords, your model weights — across reboots.

When to enable persistence

Enable it if you want to:

  • Keep downloaded Ollama models (so you don't re-download multi-GB weight files).
  • Save browser bookmarks, GPG keys, or password databases.
  • Use PAI as a daily workstation.

Leave it off if you want maximum deniability: a reboot erases everything, and a seized device contains nothing recoverable beyond the ISO itself.

How it works

Persistence is a second partition on your USB stick, encrypted with LUKS2, containing a list of paths that overlay on top of the live system.

The defaults include:

  • /home — your files and dotfiles.
  • /var/lib/ollama — model weights.
  • /var/lib/tor — Tor guard selection.
  • NetworkManager connections — saved Wi-Fi.

Anything outside those paths still comes from the (read-only) squashfs, so system integrity is preserved. Technical detail is in ../architecture/storage.md.

Creating persistence

On first boot, the welcome dialog offers to create a persistence partition. Full step-by-step: ../persistence/creating-persistence.md.

Unlocking

Every subsequent boot asks for the LUKS passphrase before handing off to the login session. See ../persistence/unlocking.md.

Backing up

The persistence volume is a LUKS container over ext4. Back it up with dd for a bit-exact copy, or by mounting it and rsyncing /home. See ../persistence/backing-up.md.

Forgetting everything

To wipe persistence entirely: boot PAI, unmount the persistence partition if it's open, and reformat the second partition. Or reflash the USB from scratch.

What persistence is not

  • It is not an installer. PAI runs off the USB; the internal SSD is never touched.
  • It is not encrypted by your login password. It's encrypted by the LUKS passphrase you set when you created it. Choose one that can resist offline cracking.
  • It does not persist /tmp, /var/log, or installed apt packages. Those stay volatile on purpose.