Backing up home folder?
 

I am reasonable new to linux and have been told to make a separate partition for home, and to backup the home folder. My question is if I install a newer version via format etc, then reinstall my backup, will all my existing programs work and what about the updates in the home folder that get overwritten? Will that make any difference to the running of the OS.
Under MS Windows you can't do that, and would like clarification on what I've been told (plain simple terms).

tia

Hi,

While it is possible that you have installed your software in your home directory, most desktop/user-friendly distributions these days do not act that way by default. Usually, software is installed to a location that is accessible to all users, and only user-specific configuration files are stored under /home.

If your system is set up this way, and you completely remove and reinstall your OS, restoring the /home directory will not restore your software. However, if you reinstall your software manually, and also restore your /home directory, all (or almost all, anyway) of your settings and configurations should be restored along with it.

In short, in most cases the /home directory only contains settings for programs, and not the the programs themselves. Hope that helps, but please do post further if you're still uncertain. Cheers,

-Felix C.

Depends what you mean by "if I install a newer version via format " - do you mean "install a (complete) new new version of the distro" ???.
If so, then a separate home is a good idea, and yes, should allow you to continue using your apps. Like mail client f'instance.
I do this all the time - rather than just upgrading. Clean install is better IMHO.

Installing a completely different distro is another matter. I wouldn't try it without a really good set of backups.

Thanks felixc thats what I thought, so really if I keep the (programs) installation files and....stuck. How do I find the personal setting (MS config file) so I can keep them?

Thanks syg00, as you can see felixc has replied and with your reply is what I have seen in various forums. It makes it hard to work out what is the right way to keep your programs & configuration files in a 'reinstall'. By the way I am using ubuntu gutsy (will be moving to heron soon), that's why I want to sort this out now.

tia

Hey again,

The files contained in /home are the configuration files that contain your settings for programs. If you reinstall and restore those files, they will restore your configs.

For example, on my Ubuntu system, I have the file /home/felix/.vimrc, which contains my settings for the VIM text editor. I also have the folder /home/felix/.Skype, with settings for my VOIP client. If I reinstall Ubuntu from scratch, formatting the drive, etc, and then restore my /home partition, the following will happen:
1. Since VIM is included by default in Ubuntu, the next time I open it up, all my settings will be there, because I restored the .vimrc file.
2. Since Skype is not included in a standard Ubuntu installation, I will not be able to use it until I reinstall it. However, when I do reinstall it, my settings will be preserved, because I restored the .Skype folder.

I hope that clarifies the situation... If it doesn't, maybe you could elaborate a bit more on your issue, because I may just be misunderstanding! Have a good one,

Felix C.

Think I've got you all the .xxxx folders are my settings for whatever program, when I reinstall and try to run it, if it's not installed it will tell me, then I can re-do it. That makes sense.

So really all I need to do is reinstall my .xxx folders not any of the other files including hidden.