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Old 12-22-2021, 01:06 AM   #1
John Trabbick
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Would the Home folder be enough to backup all of the information a casual user needs?


Let's say there was a person named Bob who uses Ubuntu for the work computer. Bob works on a spreadsheet on that computer using LibreOffice, and out of nowhere a wizard appears and sends his computer to the next dimension. Now Bob is missing his apps, documents, and photos. Let's assume that Bob didn't care about whatever just happened and went on to buy a new computer and get a new Ubuntu system.

Now, with his new Ubuntu system, could Bob replace the fresh Ubuntu Home folder with his own Home folder backup copy and have everything return back to normal, or would Bob have to do some more work to the system to have everything back to it's functional state?

In other words, can you restore your things like apps and documents without problems using just the Home folder, or would it require more work in order for the user's system to be back to normal?
 
Old 12-22-2021, 01:12 AM   #2
evo2
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Hi,

it depends on how much the system was tweaked from the default install. You'd need to reinstall whatever additional packages that were installed at the system level.
Eg anything that was installed using sudo will not be in the user's home directory and will need to be installed again.

Evo2.
 
Old 12-22-2021, 02:08 AM   #3
Brains
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Code:
apt list --installed > pac && cat pac | cut -d "/" -f1 > oldpacs && rm pac  #---> oldpacs = what was all installed
apt list --installed > pac && cat pac | cut -d "/" -f1 > newpacs && rm pac  #---> newpacs = new install missing extras in oldpacs
##### grep -Fvx -f partial.list full.list > missing from full list #####
grep -Fvx -f newpacs oldpacs > difference && echo $(cat difference) > get
When I do a reinstall and want things more or less the same in Debian Testing, I run the commands above.
There will be a file called "difference" and another called "get". They have the same contents except the "get" file is arranged in one line, I would put "apt install " at the begging of the line, copy paste it in the terminal after weeding out libraries and packages I don't remember installing, also weed out stuff I don't use. Any of those needed as dependencies will get installed. But it's a good way to see the difference between old and new and customize further.
 
Old 12-22-2021, 11:22 AM   #4
John Trabbick
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evo2 View Post
Hi,

it depends on how much the system was tweaked from the default install. You'd need to reinstall whatever additional packages that were installed at the system level.
Eg anything that was installed using sudo will not be in the user's home directory and will need to be installed again.

Evo2.
Can I have some more examples of how the system would be tweaked, preferrably things that could be possibly done by a home user with no/little experience with Linux? Thanks!
 
Old 12-22-2021, 05:33 PM   #5
syg00
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Don't worry about it - anything a " home user with no/little experience with Linux" does will likely be in /home/${USER}. Just make sure the backup is complete - i.e. it includes all the hidden files.
One consideration not perhaps made explicit is to restore the /home before doing any package re-installs. Typically the install process will retain any updates from previous installs (in /home/${USER}) and not over-write them. To make all this more convenient for a simple crash/re-install scenario (sans wizard) I always have /home on a separate partition. This can be re-used at install rather than having to be restored - the product of experience.
 
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Old 12-22-2021, 09:12 PM   #6
evo2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Trabbick View Post
Can I have some more examples of how the system would be tweaked, preferrably things that could be possibly done by a home user with no/little experience with Linux? Thanks!
Two examples that come to mind

- Adding/enabling software repositories
- Adding/saving wireless network passwords


Evo2.
 
  


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