fresh install and programs

[nick_goodfate]

Hi , i just wonder if there is a way to backup the programs i have installed now , and move them to a fresh install of an other distribution of ubuntu, instead of install them one by one again ... so is there ?

[bruno9779]

there is.

dpkg --set-selections > my-pkg-list

this will create the file my-pkg-list

to import said file:

dpkg --set-selections < my-pkg-list

dselect

[nick_goodfate]

I suppose "--set-selections" will be the folders where i ve installed programs ...? if i replace the root folder of fresh install with a backup, its ok ? even if the backup is from 9.10 and fresh install is 10.04 ? following this : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=81311 for example is fine for what i want ?

[lovinglinux]

I suppose "--set-selections" will be the folders where i ve installed programs ...? if i replace the root folder of fresh install with a backup, its ok ? even if the backup is from 9.10 and fresh install is 10.04 ? following this : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=81311 for example is fine for what i want ?

No, that's not a backup. What the dpkg --set-selections does is create a list of installed and removed applications, so you can install on another machine or after a clean install using a simple command. It basically creates something like a batch installation command. The installation will be automated, but you will still need Internet connection. The advantage is that you don't need to keep track of which applications you have installed and can install them all at once, with a simple command.

If you prefer you can use my Firefox extension called UMarks to do that. It creates lists of installed packages that you can export and then import into the other machine and install the applications. It is basically a gui for dpkg --set-selections.

[Mustard]

Wow, thats a really useful command.

So what is the command to install the entire list?

[lovinglinux]

Wow, thats a really useful command.

So what is the command to install the entire list?

To replicate your packages selection on another machine (or restore it if re-installing), you can type:

dpkg --get-selections > ~/my-packages

move the file "my-packages" to the other machine, and there type

sudo dpkg --set-selections < my-packages && sudo apt-get dselect-upgrade