On 2021-01-14 16:41 +0100, Jesper Dybdal wrote: > I backup my Buster server simply as a (compressed, encrypted) cpio archive. > > Restoring it to a BIOS-based machine is simple: boot a rescue cd, > partition the disk, restore all files, fix fstab if necessary, run > update-grub and grub-install in a chroot environment. That works. > > But if the machine should some day die and I can only find/buy a > UEFI-only machine to restore it to, how do I do that?
Partitioning and restoring should work pretty much the same way, but in addition you have to replace the bootloader, i.e. install grub-efi-amd64 instead of grub-pc, before you can boot the restored system. > And are there > any precautions I should take in advance (on the BIOS system, before > creating backups that may be needed on a future UEFI system) in order > to make it easier to restore to a UEFI machine? I don't think so, the only important thing is that on the restore machine you need to set up an EFI system partition[1] from which the system boots. It has to be formatted as FAT32 and mounted under /boot/efi when you install grub-efi-amd64. Cheers, Sven