[SOLVED] How do I copy root the file system of an internal hdd to a usb hdd

completelinuxnube · 07-27-2012, 03:50 PM

I have tried, but I must be missing something.

Kustom42 · 07-27-2012, 03:53 PM

Uh..

Code:

mount /dev/sdd1(or whatever your usb drive is) /mount/usb
sudo cp -rpv /root /mount/usb

completelinuxnube · 07-27-2012, 04:08 PM

Thanks Kustom42 for the info. I think I asked the wrong question though. What I meant to ask was, how do you copy the / file system of an internal hdd using rsync to a remote host's usb hdd?

PTrenholme · 07-27-2012, 04:09 PM

Note, however, that cp -rp / /mount/... will not work because that will attempt to copy several "pseudo" system files (e.g., /dev/null. /dev/random, etc.) that are (logically) infinite in size.

If you want to create an image of your system on a different drive, I'd suggest that to get a copy of Clonezilla and run it from a USB or CD.

completelinuxnube · 07-27-2012, 04:11 PM

@PTrenholme thanks for the information.

TobiSGD · 07-27-2012, 04:14 PM

If you want to use rsync it should look like this:

Code:

rsync -a /* /your/USB/mountpoint --exclude-from=exclude-file

Your exclude-file should look similar to this:

Code:

tmp/*
home/*
var/lock/*
var/run/*
dev/*
sys/*
proc/*
media/*
mnt/*

If you want the file under /home also to be copied just remove home/* from that list, if you want to exclude other directories just add them to that list.

For more information about rsync and its options have a look at

Code:

man rsync

Kustom42 · 07-27-2012, 04:35 PM

TobiSGD has the right answer, I thought you meant /root/, the explanation given about the pseudo files and devices is completely true.

rknichols · 07-27-2012, 05:18 PM

You can avoid copying other filesystems (both real and pseudo-) with rsync's "-x" (--one-file-system) option. The disadvantage of using that, rather than figuring out the list of what needs to be excluded, is the empty mountpoint directories will not get created at the destination.

You can copy the root filesystem including the mount points (and preserving their original ownership and permissions) this way:

Code:

mkdir -p /mnt/tmproot
mount --bind / /mnt/tmproot
rsync -aH /mnt/tmproot/ remoteSystem:/some/directory
umount /mnt/tmproot
rmdir /mnt/tmproot

The "--bind" option attaches only the single filesystem, not any submounts.

Note that the trailing '/' in the /mnt/tmproot/ argument to rsync is significant since you want to copy the contents of that directory and not create a directory called "tmproot" at the destination. The "-H" option is important for preserving hard links. Without it, hard-linked files are treated as though they were separate files.

As with many things, the devil is in the details.

completelinuxnube · 08-06-2012, 02:22 PM

Thanks to everyone for all of the info.