move file system content between 2 disks

drManhattan · 10-14-2010, 08:29 AM

Hi

I have to move all the files and directories between 2 file systems.

Is it good practice to move them at once or first copy them and then move ?
How to do this to preserve the permissions and directory structure ?

thx for help.

neonsignal · 10-14-2010, 08:43 AM

You can use 'cp -ax'; the '-a' flag preserves attributes and links (and is recursive), while the '-x' flag prevents problems if the destination is mounted as a subdirectory on the first file system. See the manpage for details.

It is wise to avoid using 'mv' where it is a complex copy; failures halfway through can be messy.

If the two file systems are not both POSIX (eg moving ext3 to vfat), you won't be able to preserve the permissions correctly.

mago · 10-15-2010, 06:27 PM

You can also use rsync, rnsapshot or even dd to accomplish this.

The best part of rsync is that you can restart and will pick up where it left.

syg00 · 10-15-2010, 07:35 PM

All the above is fine, except "dd". Do not use dd. It is not filesystem aware (deliberately), and will replicate errors silently. Will even introduce inconsistencies depending on options chosen.
Only to be used for taking image copies for recovery/forensic purposes IMHO.