>-----Original Message----- >From: Derek Jennings [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 11:43 AM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: [newbie] Upgrading, backing up, and restoring >data - moving from 9.1 to 9.2 > >On Wednesday 07 Jan 2004 4:13 pm, Tango Echo wrote: >> Hi all, >> >> I've recently decided to take the plunge and use 9.2 >> as my base OS. I'm performing a clean install on a >> brand new hard drive. My old mdk 9.1 install still >> resides on two old hard disks. My question is this: >> >> Is there a simple way to restore my data from 9.1? >> The main apps that need to be restored are GAIM, >> Evolution, and Kmail. While I do need the info back >> from them, I DO NOT want to over write system files >> since 9.2 has newer packages installed. I've heard >> some people just copy the old folder back (so I'd copy >> my old Tango directory to over write my current Tango directory). >> That would over write the sys files IMO. I know Mandrake has a >> backup/restore utility too, but I'm not sure if that applies here. >> >> Lastly, if no solution is available, why not? It >> would seem simple enough to me. Just make a program >> or bash script that copies all the data files (not >> system files) to another hard drive or cd, then run it >> again to restore them. I'm sure many of you must go >> thru this at the rate we upgrade. This is the biggest >> pain of the upgrade procedure IMO. Tweaking my eye >> candy in the new version, etc is no big deal, it's >> trying to remember what files go where >> w/backup/restore, etc..... >> >> Any ideas here? >> >The only places where configuration is held is in /etc for system >configuration and in your home directory for user configuration. > >So for example to have the same samba configuration in your >new set up copy >the old contents into /etc/samba > >To get your user setting for gaim back just copy the contents >of ~/.gaim back >into your home. (Note files beginning with '.' are hidden) > >Many of us get around the issue by keeping /home on a separate >partition, and >then simply not formatting that partition when doing a new >install. All your >configurations and user files are therefore preserved. > >One work of warning though. All files in Linux have a UID >(User Ident Number) >and GID (Group Ident Number) It is vital for your users to >have the same >UID/GID numbers between installs or else you would end up not >owning your own >files. The simple way around the issue is to always add your >users in the >same order when you install. The first user is UID 501 the >second is 502 etc. (This gets a bit complicated if you use >Userdrake to add users because it will >start adding users with a UID of 500) > >BTW: If you use drakbackup to back up your system it will >save the users home >directories and the contents of /etc which you can then use to >set up a new >install. > >derek
Thanks for the detailed reply Derek =) ! Now, am I understanding you correctly that worrying about app file over writes is not an issue? That was primarily what I was worried about. For example, if app files such as those that make up mozilla 1.3 are in the Tango directory and I install 9.2, will 1.3 be the browser if I copy the Tango dir back? Or are all working app files stored outside of ~ ? I realize you said sys config files are in /etc but I want to make sure you didn't mean app files - those that make up the actual program (probably should've used 'app file' vs. 'sys file'). I've heard of the seperate /home partition, but looks like this will be something I need to do! Can you give me a modern expectation for size allocation of /? I've heard 1.5 - 2 times for swap, and /home takes what's left after /, but I've never really known what to allocate for just /... I've got around 50 GB to spare for the partitioning. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
