I wonder which set of instructions you followed originally because there have been a few, albeit from different sources:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/upgrade

this seems so simple

however, there are steps mentioned in some places, and I can't get a date for the posts, that mention more steps needed for the upgrade,

sudo apt-get install update-manager-core

from this site:

http://www.tecmint.com/upgrade-ubunt...-ubuntu-16-04/


The later is not an Ubuntu site

but if you tried the former method, after it told you could upgrade, then according to Ubuntu it should be fine!

Not so. You could wrestle with various system tweaks or you could save your data to an external drive and do a clean install.

I would recomend rsync to backup and to exclude hidden files.

Fred.

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Thanks Fred. I'm resigned to doing a clean install. And I've been wondering how to get my files over. What I've come up with is I have them on 'Back in Time' on a USB flash drive. I was just going to paste those files into the clean install when it was done.

How would your rsync to backup and to exclude hidden files work? (I'm not very familiar with rsync. I actually have grsync but I'm even a little unsure of that with having to select 'verbose' etc.. The old me would have just copied all the Home folder onto a USB drive and paste it onto the computer when the clean install was done. Now at least I figure I have all the folders and files on the USB drive via Back in Time.) Thanks.

BTW. My install was like the first link except it was Xubuntu and 15.10 to 16.04. And I have enough of a hard time with Ubuntu/Xubuntu stuff, I wouldn't even think about following that tecmint link.

'the old me' was essentially correct! But I don't know what you mean by 'back in time'.

What you basically want (I think) is your old data preserving and being able to restore it on the new installation. Programs can be reinstalled later, even if they are not installed on a standard installation and are needed to interpret old data.

Why I mention rysnc is because it is quick and reliable, but perhaps, more than you need. I have not used the gui version but I imagine the verbose option is the same as adding v to the options on the command line, it tells you what is going on but is not necessary.

If you copy all the visible folders/files (select all) and copy them to a suitable USB device and copy them back to the new installation all should be well. Note symbolic links will be lost also be careful about the file system you use for the USB. Fat is probably safest and the most common on pendrives but limits the size of individual files to about 4GB so some films will not copy.

Rsync will by default copy hidden files, hence the exclude reference. These contain some configuration files that may conflict with the new installation. However, the layout of every home directory is the same, or close enough, just to paste the saved visible folders/files into, so if you open your home directory eg /home/fred copy all and open your new home directory /home/fred and paste, all ok- on the gui that is something like clicking on an icon that says new drive, selecting all and opening an icon that says fred and pasting.


But do not just copy the folder wholesale to your new installation unless you want to that, that way you will have a folder with your old stuff on it rather than 'your old computer with a facelift'

Fred.

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Thanks Fred. Back in Time is a backup app. http://backintime.le-web.org/download_page/

So basically you're talking about the Home folder, right? So if I use Grsync it would look like 112 screenshot.

So I can make the USB flash drive (that I'll be copying to) format NTFS and then not worry about the file size? (My Home folder is 16.4GB.) I'm not concerned about symbolic links. Question though. I have partitioned a 32 GB drive, roughly to 5GB and 27GB. They are both FAT32. The thing is the 5GB partition has some pretty important stuff on it. The 27GB I could use the whole thing (hence the 16.4GB Home folder would easily fit on it). Is it okay to re-format only the 27GB partition even though the other partition remains FAT32 (and will the 5GB partition be safe)? In the 111 screenshot the big partition is highlighted. And do you know why the smaller partition is flagged lba? I researched it and all I found was Which meant essentially nothing to me.

Of course (copying the folder wholesale) was just what I was going to do. LOL

Anyway, the Grysnc does not seem to have an option for not copying hidden files. (see 112, 113 & 114 screenshots) (The in the Advanced Options is for doing incremental changes copying.)

So unless there is some way to exclude copying the hidden files in Grsync, I'm stuck with the copying the Home folder wholesale. Unless maybe you give give me the rsync terminal commands with the exclusion and if they're not too scary I could do that.

Thanks a lot.

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Forget Grsync. It is a graphical representation of rsync which contains more than you need, unless you are backing up remote servers across a network but it can work on simple local setups just as well.

Backintime is not one I have heard of and the web page is not very informative. The are many 'solutions', backup methods.

I am not sure why this is unless the former's contents were copied from a NTFS system and the later from a FAT one but CHS is old and does not support partitions of this size and gparted does not say that it is CHS.

The reason for using FAT is that it does not recognize owners or permissions so you can transfer locally without hindrance.

Simplest method is to open the first partition of the USB copy all, make a folder in your new installation and paste it there, you have to open it first.

The second partition, 'mainsewwer' might show up in your file manager, in which case move to that and repeat the process.

Now you should have two folders/directories that contain your transferred files on your new system.

I could give the rsync commands but not sure why you partitioned the USB, if that is what you have done.

Fred.

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Thanks Fred. So Grsync is not good for any kind of copying? I always thought it was just rysync with a GUI.

I partitioned that USB drive a long time ago. I did not partition it for the changeover. It just happened to be the only USB drive with enough room for my 16.4GB Home folder.
Did you mean the reason for not using FAT... ? I'm thinking from now on NTFS is going to be the way I go.

I'm not tracking here, Fred. Wouldn't this be just 'copying the folder wholesale'? I think I don't understand why the rysnc does anything differently on copying the Home folder, since there are no hidden files in the Home folder, right? So wouldn't rsync really just be doing the 'wholesale' copying, except in the terminal?

A late entry: I just looked and saw all the hidden files in the Home folder. So you're saying there may be different hidden files on the other installation, which would affect other files?

So maybe I do need the rsync terminal commands.

Fred.[/QUOTE]

Gregg,

You seem to be overcomplicating what should be a fairly simple process of migrating from Xubuntu 15.10 to Xubuntu 16.04.

I would do as ardvark71 suggests:

Plug in a USB external drive, right click > Create Folder, then make the following new folders (you may need more if you have additional personal data elsewhere):

DOX
DLOADS
PIX
VIDZ

Then, using copy & paste, transfer the contents (not the folders themselves) of your exiting Home folders to the newly created ones.

Go to Documents in Home, click on Edit > Select All > Edit > Copy.

Then go to DOX. Open it, right click and then click on Paste.

Repeat for the rest.

Make sure that you save your existing Bookmarks to a .html file and copy that into DOX.

If you don't use webmail then there is email to be transferred.

Next, grab the Xubuntu DVD and do the fresh installation.

Then copy and paste the contents of DOX, DLOADS, PIX, VIDZ to those in the new Home folder.

Job done.

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Yes this is getting overly complicated.

beachboy2's suggestion will work. Just make sure you open each 'home folder' before you paste into it:

The names of the folders you make on the USB are just to remind you of their origin and different because you cannot paste a folder of the same name into itself.

So you open DOX on your USB select all, copy and in your OPENED Documents folder paste that copy and so on.

That way you avoid possibly conflicting hidden files and retain the layout rather than all old files in one directory.

Fred.

Fred.

1 members found this post helpful.

Wow, beachboy2, thanks. That makes it easy. And I didn't know the difference between web and email. (Now I do.) Appreciate it mucho.

Very good, Fred. I got it. (Thanks for hanging with me on this!)