Copy current Fedora OS to another PC (Remix?)

[bushfish]

Hi all,

To start, I'm a newbie using Fedora 17.

I would like to copy my Fedora OS to another laptop. What is the simplest way of doing so?

Thanks!

[jpollard]

Depends on the definition of "simplest".

If the target disk is the same size, you can install it (via USB) to the source laptop - then use dd to copy the disk. Yes, it is an active system, so you may want to boot a CD and use that to do a copy.

This would preserve all partitioning and copy everything.

If the partitions are different, then you need to copy each filesystem separately - longer, but not that much more complicated.[COLOR="Silver"]

Another is to just install from the CD. This can in some case be "simpler" as it may be more understandable.

[bushfish]

My laptop and the laptop I would like to copy to are different, and do have different partitions.

How do I copy each filesystem separately?

And does installing from the CD mean that I copy my Fedora OS to a CD, and then install on the other laptop via that CD? If so, how do I copy my Fedora OS to a CD?

Thanks for the help!

[DBelton]

In your case, it might be easier to simply install Fedora on the other machine instead of trying to copy it over.

Is there some specific reason you wanted to copy it? Some data you wanted to keep?

[bushfish]

Hi DBelton,

I would like to learn how to copy my OS, if there is a way to do it for computers with different partitions.

Is there a way to copy my Fedora OS to the other laptop via an external hard drive?

[jrl1357]

use gparted.
Once your disk is unmounted (safest way is to use a live cd, boot it up, unmount it in nautilus if autoounted, then install and open gparted in the live system)

You should be able to copy and paist it (switch devices using the devices tab). then, right click and go to infomation for each partition and copy down the uuid on to gedit. Then, mount your root file system in nautilus, go to your fstab and replace the old uuids with the new ones. try and boot. If it fails to boot go back to the live cd, and ask here about chrooting into an install in order to generate a new grub file.

[flyingfsck]

Howdy,

Yes, you can copy the whole kaboodle, but it is far more time consuming than re-installing and you will end up with a few funnies because the HDD and ethernet devices have different UUIDs and MAC addresses, which are not so simple to fix.

The proper way to make a copy of a system is with Kickstart. During installation, the Anaconda wizard drops a script in /root which can be used to install more machines automatically with the same setup. This is the way that IT departments use to deploy thousands of machines. This method ensures that differences between machines are handled automatically.

Kickstart can be fully automated, so that the only thing you need to do is plug a bunch of machines into a 24 port network router and turn them on, then go and have some coffee and complain to your boss about how hard you are working...

[sea]

Originally Posted by flyingfsck

Kickstart can be fully automated, so that the only thing you need to do is plug a bunch of machines into a 24 port network router and turn them on, then go and have some coffee and complain to your boss about how hard you are working...

True, but doesnt match live-spin installations.
Only net- and dvdinstallations.

[bushfish]

Hi all,

Well, it sounds like there are a variety of ways to copy my OS to another system. Thanks for the input!

[griffinmt]

I have a 'similar' need to propagate onto a number of 'similar' systems a tailored setup from an existing machine. For doing my testing, I have been using virtualbox on single machine, so cloning is pretty simple. Only need to make a few network changes after each clone.

But I would love to create a new install dvd based completely upon what is current on the master system, copying all the configs etc, then run some adjustment apps to make each unique.

Assume that kickstart would be part of the solution, so if anyone could give me an overview of the process I would appreciate it.

-------

Loaded the livecd tools etc and took a look at some of the ks files. From that I changed the package list specified (as groups etc) with all of the specific packages I want. Not so great at writing scripts, but I hope to put in the scripting for modifying the network settings etc.

What I don't seem to know is how I can do things such as specify the /dev/sda setup I want configured etc.

[flyingfsck]

Just look in your /root directory for the file anaconda-ks.cfg and read it.

A little googling will find the official kickstart docs on the Redhat site.