Saving/restoring ubuntu configuration help

[yuri-weinstein]

I want to be able to install a new 18.04 version and restore all user settings from my existing 16.04. Is this possible scenario?

Also wonder what people suggest to use for system restore in case of disasters.

Thx

[oldfred]

If standard desktop all your user settings are in /home. Only if server or you have some server applications like database or web may you have folders in / (root) that you want to also backup. You may want to backup /etc, if you manually edited any system files. I edit several grub files in /etc/default/grub & /etc/grub.d but since I only edit a few files I manually copy into /home, so my backup of /home includes those files.

discussion of alternatives/strategy backups
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2368992&p=13677224#post13677224
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BackupYourSystem
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CategoryBackupRecovery

(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CategoryBackupRecovery)
If you install your own system you are the system admin
Sysadmins: Everything they told you about backup WAS A LIE
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/12/storagebod_monomyth/
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-features/31745-data-recovery-tales-raid-is-not-backup
Best practice for Backups - theFu
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2368992
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2389631&p=13757986#post13757986
More backup info from 1clue
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2377810

From theFu, more for server or server apps on your desktop install
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2389631&p=13757986#post13757986
Some files(temp, cache etc) to exclude from /home backup - post #8 by Paddy Landau
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1883834
http://askubuntu.com/questions/545655/backup-your-home-directory-with-rsync-and-skip-useless-folders
http://askubuntu.com/questions/40992/what-files-and-directories-can-be-excluded-from-a-backup-of-the-home-directory/40997#40997

(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CategoryBackupRecovery)

[Frogs Hair]

Would this be a clean installation or upgrade ? If it will be a clean installation 16.04 and 18.04 have different default desktop environments so I don't think it's possible for that reason. You can install the Unity desktop on 18.04 and manually apply your current settings after installed. No matter if you upgrade or install a new version backup your files to a removable device if possible. The upgrade process is long and problematic for some users.

[yuri-weinstein]

What if we simplified the case and say use on 16.04 only to be able to restore system settings (and maybe apps) on the same h/w or new in case of disaster. What would you use ?

[oldfred]

In my case I have a very small /home as all my data is in a separate data partition.
So I have /home backed up and my data partition backed up, but normally do not have to do anything other than mount it in new install.
I also export a list of all my apps. I only change one or two files in /etc, so copy those into /home so automatically included in my backup of /home. I do not backup any other system files and assume I will just reinstall.

I use rsync which is not really recommended for backup, but good for copying. But I resync to another drive, to multiple flash drives at different times. Not necessarily well organized, but works for me.
Oldfred's list of stuff to backup May 2011 (still mostly current, see added links below):
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1748541
Adding extra commands to rsync
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2260658
More detail on /etc files and others to backup - post #3:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1500559
Some files(temp, cache etc) to exclude from /home backup - post #8 by Paddy Landau
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1883834
http://askubuntu.com/questions/545655/backup-your-home-directory-with-rsync-and-skip-useless-folders
(http://askubuntu.com/questions/545655/backup-your-home-directory-with-rsync-and-skip-useless-folders)
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Full_system_backup_with_rsync


TheFu is more organized (seems to have managed lots of servers over time) and recommends rdiff which is somewhat similar to rsync.
Discussion of issues on rsync bash file & rdiff-backup - TheFu
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2392127
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2224428
http://www.kirya.net/articles/backups-using-rdiff-backup/
Sample rdiff file by TheFu
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2200427&p=12911880#post12911880
http://blog.jdpfu.com/2013/10/20/rdiff-backup-real-use

[yuri-weinstein]

thank you, need to digest all this information :)