how to "clone" my computer into 2nd computer?

[looksalota]

I have "tested" 11.04 with the live cd, and installed it to my hard drive. Just have a couple issues left.
Now I would like to get started learning how to put my finished system on a cd and install it to another computer.
I've thought about making my own "live cd", or just tar the whole thing. Any suggestions?

[SteveRiley]

I've done this many times. My procedure is below. "Charlie" is the source computer, "Alice" is the destination. Alice's hard drive must be equal to or larger than Charlie's, and this procedure assumes:

• You don't need a more complicated configuration, such as multi-boot
• You don't care about preserving anything on Alice, because this will wipe out everything there

Here we go!

1. Remove the hard drive from Charlie.
2. Place it in an external USB enclosure (one of handiest investments you can make).
3. Create a GParted Live USB.
4. Attach both drives to Alice.
5. Boot Alice from the GParted USB.
6. Using the graphical GParted program, identify the device names of Alice's internal hard drive and the drive in the enclosure. (Most likely, the internal drive is /dev/sda and the external is /dev/sdc. I'll use that here. But check for yourself!)
7. Open a command prompt window.
8. Enter the following command; pay attention to the device order! (think: "if=source" "of=destination")
   

   sudo dd if=/dev/sdc of=/dev/sda bs=16M

9. Wait a while; dd is finished when the command prompt returns (it'll tell you how much data was transferred and the time required).
10. Power off Alice.
11. Remove both USB drives.
12. Power Alice back on.
13. Enjoy.

If Alice's hard drive is larger than Charlie's, reboot Alice with the GParted USB and use the graphical GParted program to extend the size of /dev/sda to occupy the entire drive.

dd is a very powerful command. It directly copies whatever you specify with the "if" parameter to whatever you specify with the "of" parameter. No prompts, just raw copying. So long as you understand and follow the procedure above, you'll be fine. If you need more explanation, just let us know.

[looksalota]

Thanks for the reply Steve.
I don't have an external USB enclosure (don't really want more hardware if it can be avoided). Will dd work thru a router( which I am using now)?

[SteveRiley]

When I Googled for "dd over network" I saw what look like promising results, but since I haven't done that personally, I can't comment on expected outcomes.

Regarding the enclosure... I bought a cheapy $15 thing from NewEgg a couple years ago. I'm amazed at how often I use the thing. You'll probably get more utility out of it than you first imagine.

[woodsmoke]

Hi
The simplest, easiest, method is to completely tweak your system to the nth degree, no relation to Masonic nth degrees! , and use Remastersys which was created by one of the unsung heros of Linux.... a fine fellow known by the name of Fragadelic.

Although there are DIRE warnings that it is an "advanced" application....that simply means....ummmm "FOLLOW the instructions"....

Which means.... a couple of clicks and it does it itself.

I have MULTIPLE completely tweaked cds of various distros that I can install just like I would install ANY distro...

and you can even do it with your DATA intact, as of the time of making the Remastersys.

It is in the repos or can be downloaded from this site.

http://www.remastersys.com/

woodsmoke

[looksalota]

Thanks woodsmoke.
I haven't looked at it yet, but it sounds just like what I wanted.