[opensuse] backup of users on a server
Hi, I would like to upgrade my server which runs OpenSuSE 10.3 to the latest version. I wanted to know is it possible to have a backup of all users, passwords and all home directories, so when I install new OS, just simply transfer all data of users to the new system? Thanks, D. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 6/21/2010 10:31 AM, Danesh Daroui wrote:
Hi,
I would like to upgrade my server which runs OpenSuSE 10.3 to the latest version. I wanted to know is it possible to have a backup of all users, passwords and all home directories, so when I install new OS, just simply transfer all data of users to the new system?
Short, easy, inaccurate answer: Copy /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/group, /home and /root using any method you prefer. Shorter, accurate answer: There is nothing comprehensive. Issues to be aware of that deviate from above: * There is no law that says all users home directories are in /home. What you really need to do for full correctness is read field 6 from /etc/passwd and save whatever that says, not /home/* Although generally all the home directories you care about will in fact be in /home unless you went out of your way to override the default. * Technically you don't want the whole passwd/shadow/group files, just the uid's from 1000 and above. The others are system accounts and other special accounts for various software packages that will be created on the new box as part of install, and they may have differences from the ones from the old box. * Not all user-specific info is stored in the files and directories listed above. You *may* have various user-specific settings in various other config files, most of which will be somewhere in /etc. So , personally I would save all of /etc and /opt for reference, but NOT restore those onto the new box, just have them available for reference. * Every app or service may have it's own quirks. Do you use anything that uses mysql? You need to save that separately and most of it is in /var by default (yet, you do not want most, or any, of /var as a rule). Similarly, /srv* for ftp and http server content. Similarly any number of other things you may or may not have installed, and may or may not be using or care about, from the sea of software available out there in the world. -- bkw -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 10:31, Danesh Daroui <Danesh.D@bredband.net> wrote:
Hi,
I would like to upgrade my server which runs OpenSuSE 10.3 to the latest version. I wanted to know is it possible to have a backup of all users, passwords and all home directories, so when I install new OS, just simply transfer all data of users to the new system?
I know it' s probably not the "right" advise to give, but I had an old machine still running openSUSE 10.3 in a datacenter on the other side of the country. Finally we are going to pull it down and replace with another machine with a newer OS, but I tried an in-place upgrade from 10.3 to 11.0, 11.0 to 11.1 and finally 11.1 to 11.2. It turns out everything worked great with the upgrade and no need to ship servers around the country. I was afraid it would not work well since I had openSUSE 10.3 and many stuff from e.g. Packman installed which I have seen caused conflicts on other systems. Even software that I had manually compiled on openSUSE 10.3 works fine in 11.2. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (3)
-
Andrew Joakimsen -
Brian K. White -
Danesh Daroui