Score:1

Migrate Kubuntu 21.04 to a different hardware/PC

in flag

I wanna migrate my Kubuntu 21.04 x64 OS from my current HP laptop to my new one.

It's currently in /dev/sda5 EXT4 partition on a dual-boot machine (w/ Windows 10 21H1 on /dev/sda3 NTFS) using GRUB

Partition Table

AFAIK I have 2 possibilities here:

  1. Backup the entire partition using a 3rd party Windows app (e.g Acronis true image backup) create an EXT4 partition with 67GB+ disc space (w/ a linuxswap partition =RAM_SIZE of the new machine) and restore the EXT4 partition to that disc space
  2. from rootfs (~/) backup all the apps,settings,configs (essentially all the installations & customizations I've made from the previous 21.04 installation including my user files (/home)) install a fresh Kubuntu 21.04 OS restore/override it with this backup

There are two problems here one for each option:

  1. Can Kububtu detect and install the the new hardware on boot from network repos or Kubuntu bootable USB?
  2. IDK if it's possible to create this kind of backup and if I can override a fresh one with it

Maybe none of the options above is practical or Maybe there are another options, Any suggestion are welcomed

Thanks

ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
The best option by far - also the fastest - is to backup your files and install fresh in the new hardware.
in flag
@ChanganAuto what do you mean by my files ?? home/ and it's subdirs ? that's not what I'm asking for. **all the installations & customizations I've made from the previous 21.04 installation**
David avatar
cn flag
Cloning has never worked well you will spend a long time trying to get it 100 working. Good luck
guiverc avatar
cn flag
I've had both terrific luck (*and issues that caused me to re-install*) by just taking out drive(s) from the old box, and dropping it into the new box. My last change was <2 weeks ago, the replacement box was reliable with just drive added (*from old box*); just had some *screen tearing* when multiple videos were playing at the same time.. My box was a desktop, so I tried swapping out the video cards as well & issue was gone :) ( Had I not have been able to swap video card (ie. laptop), I'd likely have re-installed as it takes <15 mins & you don't need to lose your config/customization!
guiverc avatar
cn flag
FYI: I did a QA-test today; where a 20.04 install was replaced by a *impish* install (what will be 21.10 on release); no user config was altered, no user file touched; and additional package(s) were restored (all were from Ubuntu repositories as that's all that is tested for in QA). My install was Lubuntu, but it's the same with Kubuntu too.
my flag
Try dd command for backup and restore with the files of your choice, it might work.
heynnema avatar
ru flag
@Roey Status please...
heynnema avatar
ru flag
@Roey Status please...
in flag
@heynnema sorry I'm on forced hiatus due to holidays and a medical issue. Will check things out as soon as possible (can take time)
Score:1
ru flag

There are so many variables, that there's no easy answer.

However, the BEST answer would be to do a clean Kubuntu install, reinstall your apps, and restore your files from /home to your fresh install. This would provide the BEST long-term results.

Another way would be to clone your entire disk, Windows and Kubuntu, to the new disk, adjust partition sizes if required, and make adjustments if required. There's a good chance that Windows will require repairs to be able to properly boot.

Messing with Windows backups, and trying to piece together what you had before is only for the very experienced user, and is still subject to problems.

Do a clean Kubuntu install.

The easy way to reinstall your apps is to use Synaptic download script...

enter image description here

The easy way to copy over your /home files is to back them up to a flash drive or external disk, and restore them on the new system.

Your swap shouldn't be a swap partition equal to RAM size. It should be a /swapfile sized to your configuration and usage pattern. Typically 4G is enough.

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.