[SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

gulatihardik10 · 2020-06-09 14:44:04

Hi, I want to transfer all data of my hard disk (installation, partitions as well as user data) fully to my new ssd.

My hard disk and ssd are of same size.
I have only necessary data and installed packages thus don't want to spend time in re-installation of OS.

I have an arch linux boot-able USB.
I have read on various sources on arch linux forums as well as on google, but doesn't meet my needs.

I just want to copy all the data to new ssd without changing the contents of hard drive.

Please tell me a good procedure to do the same in efficient manner.
I have sata to usb convertor to connect the ssd or hard drive in same system.
Using dell pc with 4gb of ram, arch linux with kde plasma as UI.

Thanks for any help in advance

Last edited by gulatihardik10 (2020-06-11 18:02:18)

Skunky · 2020-06-09 14:55:28

Disk cloning

gulatihardik10 · 2020-06-09 15:01:46

Yes, something like that.

I had red rsync dd softwares and much more...top to bottom and bottom to top process.

Want to confirm that if I clone disk with data, partitions and OS and I switch the boot order to ssd, will it boot up without harming contents of hard drive.

Last edited by gulatihardik10 (2023-06-04 14:53:26)

Trilby · 2020-06-09 15:22:06

And you've been given that. What is unclear about what you have read?

Personally I'd advise against direct cloning as it will be needlessly slow, may cause confusion with duplicated UUIDs, and depending on whether this is a UEFI or BIOS system may make the transition challenging. Syncing the contents over would require minor one-time updates to the boot loader and fstab, but otherwise it'd be cleaner and faster.

Last edited by Trilby (2020-06-09 15:22:28)

gulatihardik10 · 2020-06-09 15:41:45

My system is bios but not able to conclude which method will be best dd or rsync or any other.
I will change UUID first to specific SDA then again to UUID after checking for it.
Is I have to reinstall grub again as when I was installing arch, it takes a lot of time and comes with errors many times...so I dont want to spend that much time in reinstalling.
Thus, I want to know direct process.

Also, give me a link for process that can I use for my purpose...I can go hardway but not want a fresh install.
Thanks for your reply

Trilby · 2020-06-09 16:07:28

You've been given the links. Again, if you have questions about the process ask, but don't expect to have your hand held through it.

I have no idea what trouble you had with grub, but that should not be the case. It should be trivially easy to install/update grub.

gulatihardik10 · 2020-06-09 16:14:34

Ok will try to go through the documented process.
I dont know too about grub as when I installed I rarely know anything about linux...but I remember that it was the hardest and most time consuming task.

Thanks for the reply will get through it.
In the meanwhile if anyone have something interesting to share in disk cloning, I will be thankful.

Wild Penguin · 2020-06-09 17:23:23

Being someone who has needed to change root filesystem location often, I've come to the conclusion that cloning root filesystem is best done with rsync in my case. I.e. something like:

sudo rsync -axHAXv --exclude={"/dev/*","/proc/*","/sys/*","/tmp/*","/run/*","/mnt/*","/media/*","/lost+found"} /oldroot /newroot

This is exactly like in the link given and from there you can find Rsync#Full_system_backup, and will only move data from the old root to a new location. I've actually run it on the old system while it was running first, and then again from a live USB, now with "--delete" -option to remove any possibly stale files (however, be certain to not mess things up, since --delete can be, obviously, destructive).

The documentation page can seem a bit daunting, however it is that way for a good reason: there is no 1-way/command which will fit all use cases. If the instructions on that page are not clear, you need to give more information (such as: your exact partition layout, are you going move grub etc.). It is all in there, somewhere, though.

EDIT: Forgot --exclude pattern, added!

Last edited by Wild Penguin (2020-06-09 17:28:49)

d_fajardo · 2020-06-09 17:43:15

Clonezilla can be useful. I use it for backing up my laptop but use I rsync for my desktop needs. I avoid dd because I've messed things up badly once with a bad dd command.
You need an intermediate drive however for clonezilla - you need to create an image to an intermediate drive, then install that image to the new drive.

gulatihardik10 · 2020-06-11 15:18:28

Thanks for such wide information.

I have only two partitions one 50 gb partition for linux and 400 gb for data and want exactly same on ssd which is of same size as my hard drive of 500 gb.
I want to move everything so that my manual intervention would be minimum.

If I will use dd command for transfer of data, is there a chance of data removal in my hard drive from which I am transferring data.
As I don't want to use and intermediate software like clonezilla for the need.

Also anyone tell me after using dd how much things I have to change with manual intervention.
One I know is changing UUIDs in FSTAB.

Thanks for the help as I want to know most of thing before actual doing of task so that crashing minimizes.

Trilby · 2020-06-11 15:30:15

gulatihardik10 wrote:

If I will use dd command for transfer of data, is there a chance of data removal in my hard drive from which I am transferring data.

Not if you use dd correctly. But dd has earned it's backronym of disk destroyer for a reason. If you enter the parameters incorrectly, it will not give any warning before overwriting everything on a disk.

gulatihardik10 wrote:

One I know is changing UUIDs in FSTAB.

No, you will not have to change UUIDs anywhere if you use dd. But I'm not even sure what I'd expect to happen if you do a dd clone and leave both disks in the machine when you try to boot as there will be duplicate UUIDs present. If you use dd, you should completely remove the old drive before you try to boot into the new ssd.

gulatihardik10 · 2020-06-11 18:01:03

Ok I understood,use of dd doesn't need manual intervention
Insert the ssd in place of hdd and booted.

Thanks for everyone help in the thread

Last edited by gulatihardik10 (2023-06-04 14:50:54)

Arch Linux

#1 2020-06-09 14:44:04

[SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#2 2020-06-09 14:55:28

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#3 2020-06-09 15:01:46

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#4 2020-06-09 15:22:06

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#5 2020-06-09 15:41:45

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#6 2020-06-09 16:07:28

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#7 2020-06-09 16:14:34

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#8 2020-06-09 17:23:23

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#9 2020-06-09 17:43:15

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#10 2020-06-11 15:18:28

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#11 2020-06-11 15:30:15

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

#12 2020-06-11 18:01:03

Re: [SOLVED] Clone my hard disk to new ssd

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