[ubuntu-uk] backup home folder

[ian pettitt]

On 16/09/10 09:55, Alan Pope wrote:
> On 16 September 2010 09:05, ian pettitt<ian.pettitt at bbsrc.ac.uk>  wrote:
>> I think that is correct. I have my /home on a separate partition to the
>> system (/), so when I have reinstalled my data, settings, email etc. are
>> retained
>>
>
> I've lost count of how many times I've said this but it seems many
> people don't know.
>
> You do not need a separate /home partition to achieve that. The
> installer has for some time now supported reinstalling 'over the top'
> of an existing install _without_ deleting /home, whether it's a
> separate partition or just a subdirectory on your root (/) partition.
>
> To achieve a reinstall/upgrade of this nature simply boot from a
> recent CD and when you get to the partitioning step, choose to
> 'manually' partition the disk. Choose where you want to install and
> make sure 'Format' is _not_ ticked. The installer will go through
> /bin, /usr, /var, /etc, /lib and so on deleting all files before the
> installation starts. It will _not_ delete /home.
>
> Of course this only preserves /home, not your settings in /etc nor
> mysql databases in /var or anything else outside of /home, but it's a
> very useful feature.
>
> Cheers,
> Al.
>
I was unaware of this useful feature - I am very cautious when using the 
partitioner :-)

I have my disk split into partitions as recommended in the documentation

https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/installation-guide/i386/apcs03.html

But I have a large drive. On a more limited capacity system I will try 
out this option the next time I have a system to reinstall

Thanks

Ian