Ubuntu – How to move all the configuration to a new installation

migration

I've spent a long time configuring a new Ubuntu laptop. This includes:

  • A custom keyboard layout on /usr/share/X11/kbd.

  • Custom system configurations (ex: gnome tweaks).

  • Changes in random system files (ex: /etc/xdg/user-dirs.conf)

  • Installed apps with lots of customization (ex: Vimium on Chrome).

  • Dotfiles (ex: .vimrc, .bashrc, .xmonadrc, etc.)

Having a highly configured / customized OS is great, but the problem is, what do I do when I change computer? Do I need to go through all those steps again, or is there some way to migrate all my configuration to another machine in a small amount of time?

Best Answer

The easiest answer is to clone your disk(s) and just copy them to the new computer.

When doing this, I prefer to use Clonezilla, a live Linux distro that can be run from USB or DVD.

First, download Clonezilla Live and write it to a USB or optical disk. Then, boot to the live instance of Clonezilla and copy the old disk to the new disk. It's pretty self-explanatory and the OS is easy to use, as well as well-documented. Do note that you may need to boot with noacpi, nomodeset, or whatever additional commands you'd have normally used and Clonezilla works the same way as most other live OSs in these regards.

You can easily do this by just hooking the new drive up to the old computer by either opening the old computer up or by using a USB drive-caddy.

That's about it. It's remarkably easy. If you have any questions about using Clonezilla, it's well documented here.

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