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bestmehr 12-08-2003 07:00 PM

Distro Hopping....
With RH discontinuing its desktop operation at version 9, I am looking into switching to SuSe. Does anyone know if I'll need to reformat and re-install everything or is there a migration process in place where I can keep my stuff as they are?

What is the easiest way to back things up if I happen to be the unfortunate one?

Thnanks much.

win32sux 12-08-2003 08:02 PM

i would have to say that in my experience a fresh install would be best... you would be avoiding a lot of potential "migration" headaches in the future (i'm not even sure there's actualy a way to "migrate" from redhat to suse, but even if there is, I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THAT SORTA THING)...

just backup your personal data and configs to cd or to a server and then install a fresh suse... it's really not too much of a big deal... when you're done installing simply download your backup tarball to your home folder for restoration and your done...

as far as COMPLETE system backups (in case "something happens"), the easiest way i can think is to use something like mondo rescue... it'll backup your entire system to cd (even your windows, if you have), and it'll make restoring everything as simple as one command...

yapp 12-09-2003 09:29 AM

The settings in /etc/ found be different in SUSE. However, it's a good idea to copy this entire folder, it's very easy to restore files like /etc/X11/XF86Config(-4), and perhaps your webserver config. (etc..) Restoring the entire folder isn't such a good idea, there are many differences between distribution.

It's also a good idea to copy the hidden files in your home directory, or just copy the entire folder to the new system (much easier, and works better) These files contain your personal settings, like kde settings. You don't need to configure your desktop environment again :)

I'd recommand using this command for copy: "cp -gdpR /home/yourname destination-here".
Creating an archive: "tar zcvf archive.tar.gz /some/folder"
Restoring an archive: use 'cd' to change to the correct directory, use "tar zxvf /path/to/archive.tar.gz" to restore it.

dave_starsky 12-12-2003 07:26 AM

when installing SuSE there is an option to install over an existing Linux distro but keep as many of the current settings as possible. I haven't tried this myself so I don't know how well it works. As long as you back up everything you want to keep I would imagine that you should be OK
