Retaining settings on re-install?
 

I want to either re-install RH9 on my current box (Celeron 466 o/clocked to 525MHz, 256Mb RAM, 16Mb video, 2 HDDs - 1 x 10Gb, 1 x 4Gb - SB Live SC etc), or "upgrade" to FC2 or 3.

I have copied most of the stuff from my home directory to a RH9 Server I have running here, but am wondering what (if anything) I can do to preserve my individual settings post upgrade. If, for example, I do a complete re-install of the OS, can I then migrate my original settings back? If I'm using Evolution for POP3 mail, and the mail is stored in mbox format, can I retain the mail and re-import it later?

Pretty crappy questions, I know, but I haven't tried preserving settings in the past (just blown everything away and started again - this time I'd like to keep what I've got, if possible...)

Thanks in advance.

Assuming your /home directory lives on a separate partition (which I would recommend), the only thing you need to do is *not* reformat the /home partition during the reinstall. This basically has the effect of reinstalling Linux "around" your existing /home directory, leaving everything in it intact.

Otherwise, if /home is a directory under / then the steps you describe are the right thing - copy the contents of /home to a second hard drive, CD, or whatever, then copy them back after the reinstallation. (During the reinstallation, I'd suggest setting up /home on its own partition to avoid possible similar hassles if you decide you want to do this again. Note also that having /home on its own drive also allows you to try on a new distro pretty painlessly.) Obviously the key success factor with this approach is to remember to *not* reformat the /home partition during the installation.

As for Evolution, all your Email probably is in a directory called /home/<user>/evolution Just save the entire directory, then copy it back post install. That ought to do it. -- J.W.