Minimal Backup of /home?

[Dave M]

At 04:31 AM 6/24/2007 , Matt Flaschen wrote:
>Dave M wrote:
> > I am using Mondobackup to backup my system files excluding /home. I am
> > using KDar to backup my /home user files.
> >
> > The plan is to boot from the Mondo disk, use it to restore the system 
> files
> > and then use KDar to restore the user files.
> >
> > The problem is that I cannot boot (problem loading GUI) with /home being
> > empty. What files and/or directories from /home must I restore in order to
> > boot and run?
>
>Is /home just empty, or is it mounted on a read-only file system?  If
>you want to know the default files for /home, you can try creating a new
>user and checking it's /home directory (don't copy from here, just use
>it to know what you'll want).  However, I'm not sure any /home files are
>absolutely necessary.  You definitely /do/ need the ability to write
>there at all times (for lock files and such).

/home is just empty. Everything else (including /etc) has been restored.

On the original system I have the user setup to log in automatically.

On the restored system I get a screen (in text mode) that says "Failed to 
start the X server". It gives me the option to view the X server output. 
There I am seeing:

(EE) No Devices Detected
Fatal Server Error:
no screens found

I think the problem is related to the fact that /home exists but 
/home/username does not. So when I log in it mounts ~/ on /home (read-only) 
instead of /home/username (read-write). So it looks like I have to backup 
something in /home/username so that Mondo restores the /home/username 
directory.

What directories/files in /home/username do you suggest I back up? Are any 
of the .* files worth moving to the new system? I am thinking:

~/.gnome
~/.gnome2
~/.kde
~/.mozilla
~/.xarchive

What files (if any) should I avoid backing up?

Eventually everything will be restored to the new system. I prefer to use 
the GUI tools to restore the user files. So my goal with Mondo is to take 
advantage of its bootable one-disk restore capability to get the x-server, 
Firefox and KDar working. Then use KDar to restore the remaining user files.

-------------------------------
Dave M
Davem (at) Mich (dot) Com
Ann Arbor, Mich. USA

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