Posted: 29 June 2024. At: 11:25 AM. This was 3 days ago. Post ID: 19927
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Cloning a Linux installation onto another drive is possible with Clonezilla.

I just used Clonezilla to clone my Alma Linux installation onto an SSD from an HDD. This took all night to clone a 1 Terabyte HDD to a new 1 Terabyte SSD, but this was successful. The installation would boot up just fine, but it would not access the home directory. I found a backup of the LVM config under /etc/lvm using the recovery prompt and I was able to type in the proper UUID of the partition to allow the OS to find the home directory and load up properly. But this is very simple to do. Make sure you clone the drive and not particular partitions. This ensures the filesystem is replicated on the new drive. This is a trap for the unwary when using LVM partitions, but is fixable with a little effort. That is why running Linux is so good. It is possible to fix these issues using simple edits. The /etc/lvm/devices/system.devices file had to be edited to repair the LVM configuration. But this is great, this was my first time using Clonezilla to clone a Linux installation and it worked the first time. I just had issues running Linux from a new device.

I could have used Clonezilla live, but I booted from an Ubuntu SSD and ran Clonezilla on that. Even though it took 6 hours to run, it was a success. The rest of the procedure after the initial configuration is automated, it just requires a careful hand to ensure you are reading and writing to the correct drives. This is most important. It makes such a big difference running on an SSD vs an HDD when running a server OS like Alma Linux. It is much faster and smoother when the Linux desktop is running on a Solid State Drive. People recommend using dd to clone a drive, but this requires a lot of care and attention, Clonezilla is easier to use and painless in operation. Sure, it takes a long time to copy files, but it was a 1 Terabyte HDD I was cloning. If a program is easier to use and does the task you require of it, then there is no issue at all is there? This seems to be Linux elitism if the most convoluted solution is promoted instead of using a simpler tool. All that matters is that you get the job done, it is that simple.

lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root  9 Jun 29 10:19 ata-SSD_1TB_SN-on-the-lable -> ../../sdc
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 10 Jun 29 10:19 ata-SSD_1TB_SN-on-the-lable-part1 -> ../../sdc1
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 10 Jun 29 10:19 ata-SSD_1TB_SN-on-the-lable-part2 -> ../../sdc2
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 10 Jun 29 10:19 ata-SSD_1TB_SN-on-the-lable-part3 -> ../../sdc3

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