configuration snapshot

pedepy · 2007-03-20 23:56:49

Ok so I have successfully installed arch .. I have updated most "critical" packages to 0.8 ... I have my X server up and running .. I have installed KDEmod as my desktop and its pretty damn sweet and quick ... I have a few games, a few extra apps, my fonts look nice now ... i have installed the beyond kernel and fbsplash to boot with a nice splash screen .. .. anyway, point is, I have mostly everything set up and tweaked to near perfection for my current hardware.

My question is, is there a way for me to save a snapshot of my current configuration, or to burn an "image" so to speak of my current arch partition (with all installed application such as openoffice) to dvd or cd (if it fits) to later simply burn back onto my hard drive in case of a crash ?

Ive heard of mklivecd for certain distros that create a bootable cd image based on installed packages, but Im not sure it works under arch ..

I thought of just burning everything from my hard drive thats relevant to DVD (my arch partition is about 3 gb) and then if i need to just copy back to blank partition, install grub to the mbr and ... would that work ?

(by the way am I the only one who's fbsplash "flickers" right after it's booted the initrd ? its not super pretty ... I think i prefer bootsplash but I havent been able to succesfully patch and compile my kernel ... I cant really use that packaging utility cause I dont have an internet connection back home .. so I cant make it "point" to the kernel and the patch off the web ..)

Acker · 2007-03-25 19:58:34

Hi!

I'm using partimage for this purpose. http://www.partimage.org
You can use a live CD like kanotix or knoppix to save your partition into a single file with partimage. Works great together with an external harddisc...

Acker

stb · 2007-03-25 21:11:45

Just a suggestion: Shouldn't a

pacman -Q > file
tar cf etc.tar etc/

be enough? Of course you should backup your $HOME too.

mutlu_inek · 2007-03-25 21:23:31

I would not make a direct backup of my system partition(s) [of my private data, though]. The problem its that if you reinstall this image a few months later you will have a terribly outdated system and are forced to go though lots of updates again. I think it makes much more sense to save all configuration files (e.g. the stuff in /etc and other things you may have modified), a list of programs that you installed, etc. With that information you can quickly reinstall and get a current system about as fast as compying an image and then updating. And the new installer (0.8) supports using custom configuration files during install.

Edit: Oops, someone just suggested this, but was a little faster...

Last edited by mutlu_inek (2007-03-25 21:25:15)

mutlu_inek · 2007-03-25 21:35:45

stb wrote:

pacman -Q > file

Actually,

pacman -Qe > file

would be better, since only explicitly installed packages should be reinstalled.

pedepy · 2007-04-17 00:46:42

what exactly are explicitly installed packages ?

The thing is what I dont want to have to do is to reinstall all packages manually from scratch, and installing all dependencies one by one. This is how I function now, because I have no internet connection. Ive tried adding custom repositories to pacman.conf but it doesnt work (alright, I didnt try that one very hard actually, once and gave up .. was too late lol..)

mutlu_inek · 2007-04-17 03:52:53

I do not quite understand what you want to do.

Explicitly installed packages are those that you actually commanded pacman to install. I.e. dependencies are not included in the -Qe query.

Xilon · 2007-04-17 11:33:10

mutlu_inek wrote:

I do not quite understand what you want to do.
Explicitly installed packages are those that you actually commanded pacman to install. I.e. dependencies are not included in the -Qe query.

Well that how it works (worked) in pacman2, in pacman 3 it shows orphans

List all packages that were pulled in by a previously installed package but no longer required by any installed package.

meulok · 2007-04-28 06:45:04

Well that how it works (worked) in pacman2, in pacman 3 it shows orphans
List all packages that were pulled in by a previously installed package but no longer required by any installed package.

Then, How can I get the list of explicitly installed packages with pacman 3 ?

mutlu_inek · 2007-04-28 06:50:04

meulok wrote:

Then, How can I get the list of explicitly installed packages with pacman 3 ?

I do not know as I have not used pacman 3 yet. But you can install yaourt and use its function.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-03-20 23:56:49

configuration snapshot

#2 2007-03-25 19:58:34

Re: configuration snapshot

#3 2007-03-25 21:11:45

Re: configuration snapshot

#4 2007-03-25 21:23:31

Re: configuration snapshot

#5 2007-03-25 21:35:45

Re: configuration snapshot

#6 2007-04-17 00:46:42

Re: configuration snapshot

#7 2007-04-17 03:52:53

Re: configuration snapshot

#8 2007-04-17 11:33:10

Re: configuration snapshot

#9 2007-04-28 06:45:04

Re: configuration snapshot

#10 2007-04-28 06:50:04

Re: configuration snapshot

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