Salutations!
I've been running Manjaro on my T495 without a hitch for a long time, now. With all the chatter about Manjaro possibly not being maintained, I wanted to explore jumping to a different distro like CachyOS. The problem is, when I installed Manjaro on a BTRFS filesystem, I didn't make a separate /home partition. Is there a way to migrate to CachyOS without deleting /home?
I realize BTRFS uses subvolumes instead of "real" partitions, but I'm not sure how to proceed. In my initial searches, there is a process to rename the subvolumes to something else, install CachyOS, then use rsync to restore my files, but I don't know WHERE to do this. In the LiveUSB environment? During the installer? (See post Here)
Or am I better off just using rsync to backup the whole /home folder to an external drive, install CachyOS fresh, then rsync my files over when the installer is completed but before I boot for the first time?
Apologies if this is some basic stuff, I just don't want to lose any data, especially my Docker containers and pictures.
12 Comments
bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de · 14 pts · 160d
Doing a backup is good practice either way. But I've done plenty of Linux installs where I simply deleted everything on
/except for/homeand then installed onto that. Never saw a distribution that couldn't handle it.You should maybe take a look at your
/etc/fstaband see how your subvolumes are laid out. Maybe Cachy needs something different for stuff likesnapper. But that's nothing you can't fix manually.solomonschuler@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 92d
PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 160d
I would choose the rsync-->backup /home to external disk then install Cachy fresh, then copy /home back.
It's a known, clean and simple process. Why complicate things further?
Magister@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 160d
yup, but careful with hidden folder like .config and a few others
PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 160d
Will rsync not grab those?
Edit: I am saying rsync should grab all that by default.
Magister@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 160d
Yes but switching distro you can fuck up some settings... Better to copy documents downloads etc but all the hidden directories I do it selectively
PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 160d
Gotcha. I suppose I would grab everything and then selectively restore what I need. Having the backup also allows one to paw through it for settings or whatever you might’ve forgotten.
thenextguy@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 160d
Just don’t format the disk. Boot the installer, mount the partition, delete the folders other than home, and then install.
OwOarchist@pawb.social · 4 pts · 160d
That would be simpler.
Or, even just do it after the first boot in the new system. It shouldn't hurt anything to replace the contents of your /home directory. Just copy it over and then reboot. (Save a copy of the original somewhere as a backup, just in case it breaks something.)
tinylightshow@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 160d
Thank you, everyone!
I'm thinking rsync is going to be my best bet, then I can restore things as needed without messing anything up in hidden folders. I have a spare hard drive I can use as a lifeboat but should that be in ext4 or btrfs? Or does it even matter?
PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 160d
It shouldn't matter, but I would use ext4 for simplicity's sake. I bring that concept up again because if you can make a process more simple, it is obviously easier to understand and you'll then have time for the complexities that inevitably pop up. And they will.
frongt@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 160d
Why not boot a live image and reconfigure partitions/lvm?
Shrinking a volume is a risky operation, so you should have backups for anything you cannot afford to lose.
MrQuallzin@pie.eyeofthestorm.place · 1 pts · 135d
I'd just reinstall fresh and manually move any of my needed files from the old home to the new home. Did a refresh a few weeks ago myself. It gives you a good opportunity to dig through there and make sure you're keeping just the things you want to bring over.
garbage_world@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 136d