Cloning a Linux Hard Drive

Page 2 of 3

dar restore from a DVD-R backup set

This following section assumes that you’ve backed up to DVD-R using dar in the way detailed in my previous Linux backup article, which I’ve been citing above.

You can also install to a KDE desktop during Linux installation. To accomplish this, use the file manager with root access found at START > System Tools > More System Tools >”Superuser File Manager to do most of the file/directory/zipfile operations (described below). I provided the command-line instructions because they work with almost any system configuration.

I did the system restore (as described below) using the gnome desktop. If this doesn’t work the first time, you can try the "failsafe terminal session" that you access at the login prompt under Sessions that does not include a Desktop.

After installing a minimal FC2 installation:

1. Drag and drop the terminal application link from Start > System Tools onto the desktop.

2. Open the terminal. Log in as root.

3. Insert and mount the first of the backup DVD-Rs.

Restoring the Boot Partition

As way of background, the boot partition is the portion of the primary hard drive that stores the information required for a Linux workstation to boot Linux. The use of “partition” here actually means the same as it does on a Windows system, though the labeling is a bit different. On Windows, it’s likely to be C: and a logical D: drive. On a Linux box, it’s likely to be hda1 and hda2.

If you’ve never changed the boot setup on your regular desktop, skip to the next section, “Main Partition Restore.” Otherwise:

Copy the boot directory.

mount /mnt/cdrom
  

Note: adding mount point directory is not necessary. 

mkdir /mnt/temp
mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb1 /mnt/temp
cd /
mkdir bootzip

(bootzip is a temporary directory to unzip the boot.zip directory to. The actual boot directory is in /mnt/temp inside the boot.zip file.)

cd bootzip
cd mnt
cd temp


Do a 
ls
 and you'll see the original boot directory. Now, copy the boot files into the boot partition:

cp -af --reply=yes * /mnt/temp
 

The files are now copied. If you want to check, do this: 

cd /mnt/temp
ls


Now leave the /mnt/temp directory so you can unmount the boot directory:

cd /
umount /dev/hdb1 

In terminal mode, the lines in the command history can be read back via the up and down arrows. Any command you find that way can be entered with the Enter key. This is good for dealing with repetitive commands, such as the ones described in the next section.



	

	

	
	
		
		
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