That is overkill, but it makes things simple. In this example I changed the original ~128 GB to ~127 GB. Reduce the size of the EmptyDrive partition by at least 128 MB. With the external SSD drive selected, click Partition.Click Erase with these options (if it fails, just try again):.Select your external SSD drive (NOT your Mac’s hard drive!).

Insert your external SSD drive into your Mac.

Let’s get started! Part 1: Formatting your external SSD drive It is more appropriate for a full install of an operating system than a flash drive is. So it should be more reliable (and faster) than a generic USB Flash drive. Why this drive? According to the specs it is FAST, and it is a SSD, not a standard USB Flash drive. A blank SSD drive, like this SSD USB drive ($70-130 on Amazon for the 128 GB and 256 GB versions).A bootable USB flash drive for installing Ubuntu: instructions.An Intel powered Macbook (may have to be newer than 2013) with 2 USB ports.This requires permanent changes to your Mac Use a persistent Ubuntu live session… certain features do not work.You do NOT want to make any permanent changes to your Macbook.You do NOT want a virtual machine because they are slow.You want to have a portable full install of an Ubuntu system for prototyping.We will generally be following these instructions, with a few key modifications. This guide will show you, step by step, how to install a full version of bootable Ubuntu on a SSD (solid state drive, or any other external drive), using only your Macbook. I am not an expert, and likely cannot solve any issues you encounter. Warning: This is a complicated process, and you might screw things up.

How to install linux on a mac