RAID1 an existing internal HDD and ext HDD

[baxters]

so im getting a new laptop soon, and rather than go through and install all my kubuntu files, i want to mirror my /dev/sda5 partition (which already has kubuntu installed on it) onto a new partition
how can i go about this?
thanks in advance

[oshunluvr]

Re: RAID1 an existing internal HDD and ext HDD

raid1 is not intended for what you're proposing and would leave your system in a degraded state whenever you unplug the external drive.

If the new laptop is exactly the same as the current one, you can duplicate the hard drive partition table and bit-copy the partition(s) you need, but unless it's exactly the same hardware, you'll likely be unhappy with the results.

[baxters]

Re: RAID1 an existing internal HDD and ext HDD

different harware fortunately (this is getting to be an old laptop, single-core celeron)

is there another way i can move all my personal data and installed applications and configurations?

[oshunluvr]

Re: RAID1 an existing internal HDD and ext HDD

The issue is drivers and configuration files that will not apply to your new hardware or worse - prevent your new 'puter from booting.

If all you really need to do is backup your /home/<INSERT.USER.NAME.HERE> that's easy enough. I often backup my entire install because after a few months of using an install I've usually created a few configurations that I want to re-use.

One other thing many people (including myself) want to do is have a list of all installed software so my new setup has every thing I had before without hunting for it.

Task 1: Save personal data.
Mount external hard drive, create directory for files, launch dolphin, turn on "Show Hidden Files", copy everything from internal to external drive. Note that your personal data includes dozens of hidden directories that contain personal configuration data from many programs. If you're installing all the same versions and programs on your new computer, your old configurations should work fine. If you're upgrading versions, you might consider NOT restoring the KDE directory and a few others to avoid issues.

Task 2: Create a reference backup of your current system files.
Most if not all of your editable settings will be under /etc. This is very true unless you've done some special things to your system (and you'd know if you had). My personal preference to save these files is to create an archived (compressed) file of the entire /etc directory and save it. Ark can do it easier (or whatever other compression program you have installed). Be sure to save the new archive file to the external drive! Then you can reference it with ease and delete it just as easy when you're satisifed with your new set up.

Task 3: Create a usable list of installed packages.
There's a couple of ways to do this. My usual method is to use aptitude to create a package list, but there's a program that can automate this process:

aptitude-create-state-bundle will create a file that aptitude-run-state-bundle will use to replicate the package state on the new system Check into it.