Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

fiod · 2009-07-15 17:48:39

Hey,

Is there a way to go from an existing i686 installation to Arch64 without reinstalling?

Thanks
Fiod

.:B:. · 2009-07-15 18:08:22

Someone did it a while ago (maybe the other way around, but the same procedures apply).

I warmly suggest you do a forum search first.

ngoonee · 2009-07-15 22:57:23

As B said, yes I think someone did that, but it involved a custom-compiled 64-bit kernel since the 32-bit kernel can't run 64-bit code. Search, search, and search some more.

fukawi2 · 2009-07-16 01:20:53

Without wanting to repeat other threads, I think the "current" way to do this relatively safely is:
1) Boot Arch ISO LiveCD (64-bit)
2) Configure your network and pacman on the live cd to use 64-bit repos
3) Mount you existing installation to /mnt
4) Run something along the lines of:

#!/bin/bash
pacman --root /mnt -Sy
pacman --root /mnt -Qqet > /tmp/packages.list

for PKG in $(cat /tmp/packages.list) ; do
   pacman --root /mnt -S $PKG --noconfirm
done

Untested.

EDIT: I'm going to make a wiki page for this: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mig … installing

Last edited by fukawi2 (2009-07-16 01:26:27)

ngoonee · 2009-07-16 03:39:33

There will be errors with packages that are 32-bit only (like wine or skype), and on any packages which aren't in official repos (AUR and self-compiled).

Would this work on conversion from 64-bit to 32-bit? Not that I'd really want to do that, but for completeness sake...

EDIT: Would perhaps be better if, once the package list is gotten, each package is first checked through for validity (does Ss suffice? Or something more arcane needed?), then everything installed at one go. Would probably save quite a lot of time, and be more readable at the terminal.

Last edited by ngoonee (2009-07-16 03:40:57)

fukawi2 · 2009-07-16 05:46:54

It should work 64 to 32... Just the same as it *should* work for 32 to 64

Version 2:

#!/bin/bash
MISSED=''

pacman --root /mnt -Sy
pacman --root /mnt -Qqet > /tmp/packages.list

for PKG in $(cat /tmp/packages.list) ; do
      pacman --root /mnt -S $PKG --noconfirm &> /dev/null || MISSED="$MISSED $PKG"
done

echo "The following packages could not be installed from the repos:
echo $MISSED
echo
echo "These packages will most likely NOT WORK until they are upgraded. They were probably installed from the AUR or possibly a third party repository."

Last edited by fukawi2 (2009-07-16 05:47:45)

skottish · 2009-07-17 04:29:47

This does come up now and again, and it seems like there are varying degrees of success. fiod, let us know how it goes. Maybe you'll find something valuable to add to fukawi2's wiki page.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-07-15 17:48:39

Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

#2 2009-07-15 18:08:22

Re: Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

#3 2009-07-15 22:57:23

Re: Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

#4 2009-07-16 01:20:53

Re: Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

#5 2009-07-16 03:39:33

Re: Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

#6 2009-07-16 05:46:54

Re: Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

#7 2009-07-17 04:29:47

Re: Move from Arch i686 to Arch64 without reinstalling?

Board footer