Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

t4711 · 2014-12-26 15:43:01

I have Arch running as a Win7 VBox guest for a couple of years now. All works well. Now I want to switch things around: move to a 64-bit Linux host (preferably Arch) with Win7 (32-bit) in a VM with 3GB of RAM. This triggers a few questions, the first of which is this:

Currently I have all host (ie Win7) HD partitions system encrypted (with DiskCryptor, on a smallish SSD and a big HDD). I would like to do something similar in Linux. What is the cleanest, most reliable route for this? Remember, this will be a fresh install.

There will be more questions as I go along but I'll take it one step at a time.

TheSaint · 2014-12-26 16:04:03

First having a plan B. The way that you'll be able to go back > clonezilla ?
A partition table scheme. Is a UEFI BIOS or legacy?
Partitioning up to taste
Recover Win7 from backup or new install

Install Arch or try to reuse you VM disk. You can use

VboxManage clonehd RAW ## see --help for details or open another topic

Choose a boot loader of your favorites and referring the mode you'll use by the BIOS to configure it right
Keep an eye on the wiki during the process. It won't be longer than 20~60 minutes
Choose a DE and install it.
Reboot
one of the two OS should boot, or either. Small fixing may be required

Follow the order and start to question at the point where's unclear

nomorewindows · 2014-12-26 16:44:07

Windows won't like moving from a VM to a disk, or vice versa, but it don't matter to Arch.

TheSaint · 2014-12-27 03:52:45

nomorewindows wrote:

Windows won't like moving from a VM to a disk, or vice versa

The former will need the real hardware drivers, but I suppose is possible. The latter I done some year's back. Maybe nowadays, it became more simplified.
Maybe I misunderstood. I think t4711 wants to install Arch in a encrypted disk and use W7 in a VM disk.
For the actual win7 to move it in to VM disk I discourage it for beginners. Better to start a brand new install.
For the Arch installation I discourage to start with encryption at the first, unless well informed. The encryption may take place in a second moment after a successful installation, I suppose. Better see wiki and related links.

t4711 · 2014-12-27 20:22:07

@nomorewindows: I do not plan to literally move my current Win7 install to a VM. The Win7 VM will be a complete reinstall. My problem is NOT moving Win7 to a VM.

@TheSaint: Thanks for your hints... I'm confident I have those things covered. This is not my first PC. I have complete backups of everything, I know how to partition etc.

I need a Linux host system that encrypts at least all user data (ie /home), if not the complete system. This is an absolute requirement: no encryption, no Linux.

However, I know almost nothing about the various Linux encryption schemes. It's easy to google them but hard for a newbie to know which is most stable, reliable, future-proof etc. That's where I hoped for some guidance.

Once I have an encrypted Linux up and running I am confident that I can install VBox and Win7 etc. I can foresee problems with shared access (ie Linux and Win7) to encrypted disk partitions but that can wait for another post.

ANOKNUSA · 2014-12-27 23:23:00

However, I know almost nothing about the various Linux encryption schemes. It's easy to google them but hard for a newbie to know which is most stable, reliable, future-proof etc. That's where I hoped for some guidance.

dm-crypt/LUKS is the de facto "official" method of encryption under Linux, as it's supported in-kernel. That wiki page branches out in a lot of directions, but really they all just present instructions for achieving different degrees of encryption. The reading mostly amounts to helping you decide exactly what level of protection you think is appropriate. The way you encrypt your system is pretty much the same in all cases and pretty easy to understand once you're ready to proceed, with just some variations in detail.

As for moving Win7 to a virtual machine, you can use Windows backup tools to create a complete system image, install Windows in a virtual machine, then restore the system image. You may also be able to restore the image using a Windows recovery CD or Windows PE instead of doing a complete reinstall. I'm not entirely certain what problems might arise from that, but it seems like the most reliable means to me.

EDIT---Addendum: If you have Arch and Windows installed on the same disk and are planning on installing Arch to an encrypted partition, you should know that resizing an encrypted partition can be tedious, touchy and dangerous. Better to do research on encryption, find yourself a spare day or two, back up your Windows install and give Arch the entire disk right off.

Last edited by ANOKNUSA (2014-12-27 23:28:45)

TheSaint · 2014-12-28 01:04:47

t4711 wrote:

@nomorewindows: I need a Linux host system that encrypts at least all user data (ie /home), if not the complete system. This is an absolute requirement: no encryption, no Linux

Sorry, I was unclear. I would mean that to start install a working Arch and thereafter encrypt your system.
But I suspect there's no this chance easily. You may see this whenever you want to accomplish your intent.

t4711 · 2014-12-28 09:06:24

@ANOKNUSA: so I take it dmcrypt-LUKS is the way to go then. I will read up the various Wiki pages and devise a plan of attack. I am confident that I can install an Arch system with the level of encryption I need (nothing wild, just to keep private stuff private in case the hardware gets lost or stolen).

Installing VBox and freshly reinstalling Win7 into a VM should be straightforward. The basic idea is to have two relatively small .vdi files for the Win7 VM, both living on an encrypted Linux partition on the SSD: one for the system files as immutable and another r/w .vdi for Win7 user settings and my "smaller" data.

I have a second drive (1TB HDD) with some really big data I want to encrypt AND share between Linux and the Win7 VM, mostly music and photos. Ideally, this drive should be encrypted, though I could live with it being non-encrypted.

If encrypted, I see two possible scenarios: format and encrypt the 1TB HDD as a single Linux partition (NTFS) and share it with the guest via a VBox shared folder. If the partition is formatted as NTFS I should be able to access it from other, Windows-based systems (I will have other machines around still running Windows) via, let's say, FreeOTFE or some such utility.

Or, second, produce a Truecrypted partition, format this as NTFS and mount in the guest as a VBox raw disk. However, I am not clear how Linux would access this partition.

Perhaps others have some input here or an even better idea.

Thanks so far for the help.

TheSaint · 2014-12-28 09:13:42

You may experiment an Arch installation with dm-crypt in a virtualbox. Just for the sake of getting accustomed an the chance to read the wiki side by side.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-12-26 15:43:01

Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#2 2014-12-26 16:04:03

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#3 2014-12-26 16:44:07

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#4 2014-12-27 03:52:45

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#5 2014-12-27 20:22:07

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#6 2014-12-27 23:23:00

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#7 2014-12-28 01:04:47

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#8 2014-12-28 09:06:24

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

#9 2014-12-28 09:13:42

Re: Move from Win7/Arch to Arch/Win7

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