Hi I have a new notebook and I want to move my home data to the new computer.
I think there are multiple ways of doing this
- copy all to a external hdd and move back on new computer
- do an Deja-Dup backup and then restore on the new computer
- rsyc/move to new computer via sshfs
- …?
My question is how do I keep the current ecrypt encryption of /home in place and get it working properly on the new computer.
How do I have to install the new computer so I can use the encrypted home files from the old?
If I would use Deja-Dup do I need to worry about the ecrypt stuff on the old machine or does the new installation simply enctypt everything new?
Best Answer
Great question! I actually do this quite frequently (every few months). To do so, I use rsync to copy all of my
/home
partition/directory from the OLD machine to the NEW one.First, ensure that you have
openssh-server
andecryptfs-utils
installed and running on the NEW machine.You could install your public SSH key in the root user's
/root/.ssh/authorized_keys
file. But I usually set a root password on the NEW machine.Also, on the NEW machine, create a new user, who's name and password precisely matches the name and password on the old machine.
Make absolutley sure that YOURUSER is NOT currently logged into either the NEW machine or the OLD machine.
Now, from the OLD machine, as root, rsync your
/home
directory from the OLD to the NEW machine:Finally, make absolutely sure that the files on the NEW machine are owned by YOURUSER:
And that should do it! You should be able to login as normal to your NEW machine and read and write your data!
Full disclosure: I'm the author and maintainer of Ubuntu's Encrypted Home Directory feature.