Bob Martin illuminated alt.os.linux.ubuntu by typing:
>
> I have 3 Linux systems (2 desktops and a laptop) and on one of the desktops
> I have finally arrived at what I consider to be my preferred directory structure,
> configurations etc and I now wish to make the other two systems the same.
>
> Can I just zip the home dir of the former and unzip it to the other two?

Pretty much so. Yes.

All your configuration files will remain intact.

However, your new system will need to have the same username and
password and you *may* need to add all the files recursively to the new
users user group.

Obviously, you will then need the same packages installed to use the
configuration and settings of the previous user.

--
Moog

"If this is gonna be that kinda party I'm gonna stick my dick in the
mashed potatoes"

On 10 Mar 2008 20:28:58 GMT, Moog wrote:
> Bob Martin illuminated alt.os.linux.ubuntu by typing:
>>
>> I have 3 Linux systems (2 desktops and a laptop) and on one of the desktops
>> I have finally arrived at what I consider to be my preferred directory structure,
>> configurations etc and I now wish to make the other two systems the same.
>>
>> Can I just zip the home dir of the former and unzip it to the other two?
>
> Pretty much so. Yes.
>
> All your configuration files will remain intact.
>
> However, your new system will need to have the same username and
> password and you *may* need to add all the files recursively to the new
> users user group.
>
> Obviously, you will then need the same packages installed to use the
> configuration and settings of the previous user.

Do verify User ID and Group ID are the same in the new system and
fetch any email from the old system before moving.

Bob Martin wrote:
> I have 3 Linux systems (2 desktops and a laptop) and on one of the desktops
> I have finally arrived at what I consider to be my preferred directory structure,
> configurations etc and I now wish to make the other two systems the same.
>
> Can I just zip the home dir of the former and unzip it to the other two?

I would not use zip for this... zip is terrible at preserving the file
settings (user, group,...). Instead you can use tar, afio, cpio, bzip2...

If you want to make a clone of the original harddisk, I would instead
boot up from a Live CD (at all of the machines) and make copies of the
entire disk (not just the home directory). This can be done in several
ways. Personally I would suggest downloading the SystemRescueCd
and either use the partimage software and
save the backup images at an external harddisk (USB, Firewire,
network,...), or transfere the images directly over the local network.
One of the ways for this is described at:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/howto-...r-network.html

You can also manually partition the destination disks, copy the files
over the network (for instance with rsync -a), and afterwards manually
install GRUB at the master boot record of the destination computers.

--
Best regards Jacob Tranholm
Karl R. Popper: Observation statements and statements of experimental
results are always interpretations of the facts observed.

Moog writes:

> Bob Martin illuminated alt.os.linux.ubuntu by typing:
>>
>> I have 3 Linux systems (2 desktops and a laptop) and on one of the desktops
>> I have finally arrived at what I consider to be my preferred directory structure,
>> configurations etc and I now wish to make the other two systems the same.
>>
>> Can I just zip the home dir of the former and unzip it to the other two?
>
> Pretty much so. Yes.
>
> All your configuration files will remain intact.
>
> However, your new system will need to have the same username and
> password and you *may* need to add all the files recursively to the new
> users user group.

You wont need to have the same password. Or the same username. The
important thing is the user id afaik. Mind you I always used the same
user name but had made sure I created the users in the same order.

>
> Obviously, you will then need the same packages installed to use the
> configuration and settings of the previous user.

I use rsync over ssh to sync different systems. The it matters not one
bit what the user name or user id is. You just specify for a certain
host what user id (~/.ssh/config) and password to use on the remote system.

Hadron illuminated alt.os.linux.ubuntu by typing:
> Moog writes:
>
>> Bob Martin illuminated alt.os.linux.ubuntu by typing:
>>>
>>> I have 3 Linux systems (2 desktops and a laptop) and on one of the desktops
>>> I have finally arrived at what I consider to be my preferred directory structure,
>>> configurations etc and I now wish to make the other two systems the same.
>>>
>>> Can I just zip the home dir of the former and unzip it to the other two?
>>
>> Pretty much so. Yes.
>>
>> All your configuration files will remain intact.
>>
>> However, your new system will need to have the same username and
>> password and you *may* need to add all the files recursively to the new
>> users user group.
>
> You wont need to have the same password. Or the same username. The
> important thing is the user id afaik. Mind you I always used the same
> user name but had made sure I created the users in the same order.

It's the way I did it successfully. You are probably right. However, I
did find a couple of glitches when using a different username/password
combo (some configuration files seem to store them IIRC)

You can always change them later on.

>> Obviously, you will then need the same packages installed to use the
>> configuration and settings of the previous user.
>
> I use rsync over ssh to sync different systems. The it matters not one
> bit what the user name or user id is. You just specify for a certain
> host what user id (~/.ssh/config) and password to use on the remote system.

Very good advice. I'll look into that for the next time I do it.
Cheers.

--
Moog

"If this is gonna be that kinda party I'm gonna stick my dick in the
mashed potatoes"

in 39000 20080310 224520 Moog wrote:
>Hadron illuminated alt.os.linux.ubuntu by typing:
>> Moog writes:
>>
>>> Bob Martin illuminated alt.os.linux.ubuntu by typing:
>>>>
>>>> I have 3 Linux systems (2 desktops and a laptop) and on one of the desktops
>>>> I have finally arrived at what I consider to be my preferred directory structure,
>>>> configurations etc and I now wish to make the other two systems the same.
>>>>
>>>> Can I just zip the home dir of the former and unzip it to the other two?
>>>
>>> Pretty much so. Yes.
>>>
>>> All your configuration files will remain intact.
>>>
>>> However, your new system will need to have the same username and
>>> password and you *may* need to add all the files recursively to the new
>>> users user group.
>>
>> You wont need to have the same password. Or the same username. The
>> important thing is the user id afaik. Mind you I always used the same
>> user name but had made sure I created the users in the same order.
>
>It's the way I did it successfully. You are probably right. However, I
>did find a couple of glitches when using a different username/password
>combo (some configuration files seem to store them IIRC)
>
>You can always change them later on.
>
>>> Obviously, you will then need the same packages installed to use the
>>> configuration and settings of the previous user.
>>
>> I use rsync over ssh to sync different systems. The it matters not one
>> bit what the user name or user id is. You just specify for a certain
>> host what user id (~/.ssh/config) and password to use on the remote system.
>
>Very good advice. I'll look into that for the next time I do it.
>Cheers.
>
>--
>Moog


Thanks, all, I'll give it a go!

Bob Martin wrote:

> Can I just zip the home dir of the former and unzip it to the other two?

Use tar instead of zip to preserve permissions, ownership and attributes.

Or mount the home directories remotely using NFS.