need help upgrading from 19.4 by fresh install

[Seeker]

Hi all: have not been on the forum for ages. My MX19.4 is way beyond expir date so can't upgrade videodownloader or firefox and no security updates. I want to do fresh install of the most appropriate new MX ver. First, have simply forgot how to do that and don't know which ver would be best for me. Second, don't want to lose all the emails (inbox/outbox) on my Thunderbird. So, what to do? I have everything on one 500GB SSD and a data folder with all my data in various folders (Desktop, Business, Non-Business and then lower-level folders by topic). So I do not use the default MX structure. I back up using LuckyBackUp to three external drives (one ssd and two HDs). How do I test my backups are OK? I tried to set up backup folder for Thunderbird and thought it was working. But when I look in the appropriate target folder in LuckyBackUp I don't see anything. So how to backup my Thunderbird settings/in- and outboxes? thanks in advance for your help.

[Eadwine Rose]

Thunderbird is easy, backup the .thunderbird folder which will have everything in there.

If you then put it in it should be there. HOWEVER since you are likely far behind in version numbers for staying at 19.4 too long, no guarantees.

[j2mcgreg]

Please post your existing QSI so that we can look for and advise on any pitfalls that you can avoid with our help.

[oops]

For a fresh install, it is better to have the root / , and the /home, into 2 different partitions (and a swap partition too ~same size of the RAM)
(use the : user-installed-packages .. before to save the list of your current installed packages)

[m_pav]

Start by ensuring all partitions on your internal drives have proper labels that make sense to you in a way they can not possibly be misconstrued for anything else, this step alone goes further than most any other towards removing confusion.

I recommend you use the terminal to print the layout of your partitions. If you use your file managers right click action "Open Terminal Here", the following commands will direct their output to the location from which you started the Terminal. If you opened the terminal with the F4 hotkey, or from the Menu, all output will be directed to the root of your homedir.

The first command simply runs the same command twice, once so you can see its output and a second time to save a copy of it. Note the period at the end of the 2nd command, that simply denotes "here", as in the current directory listing (your starting folder - refer to the above)

Code: Select all

lsblk && lsblk > Partition-Layout.txt

This next command simply backs up your existing fstab using the same feature as the command above so you get to see what is being saved.

Code: Select all

cat /etc/fstab && cp /etc/fstab .

If you have made any dirs under /mnt referenced by content in fstab, the following will print them to a file so you can remake them later.

Code: Select all

ls /mnt && ls /mnt > my-mount-points.txt

Some folk need more than text, so simply taking a screenshot of your partitions as they display in Gparted will make things a little clearer.

With your homedir safely backed up and all this information on hand, or printed, and when you're at the point where your system is most vulnerable to human error as you do the reinstall, you should be in the best form to perform an in place generational upgrade install whilst retaining your homedir.

The key thing to remember when upgrading from one Debian Generation to another in this manner is, the theming with the new version will likely not be compatible with the former.

Our installer has an option to re-use the homedir and when selected, you have the option to choose a totally new user name or re-use the old one. Re-using the old one has a benefit of retaining symlink integrity if you have created them within your homedir. When using this option you will be asked if you want to re-use the existing homedir or let the installer rename it and create a new one for you. If you choose the option to rename it, the old account folder (homedir) will have -001 or -old appended to its name and a new account folder will be created with a fresh set of configs that match the release you're installing. I personally think this is the best way to go.

I did post a video that touched on this a while back, but it's not my best work because I was recovering from cv19 when I recorded it and the portion covering this was an add-in I decided on at the last minute. You can fast forward to 4M 20s to get the relevant content https://youtu.be/h64PS3P-NnU

When the installation is completed and you've logged into your new user account, the very first thing you will want to do is to move the contents of your old renamed homedir to the same location in the new homedir. I caution you to open nothing but the File Manager on your first login to the new account so you can focus solely on getting your data back into place to avoid causing yourself a headache later. If you're accustomed to using your Desktop for storage, I suggest you leave it till last to ensure any symlinks etc within your homedir will be intact when you're done.

Using a split pane file manager or two File Manager instances, whichever works best for you, you will be moving content from the old login dir to the new. An important thing to know moving forward is you must not overwrite any of the following "primary" folders that your new user account was provided with as these contain special properties.

Starting from your old homedirs Documents folder, going sequentially through to the Videos Folder, move ONLY the contents of each folder to the folder of the same name in the new user account, so you will be working in the following sequence.
Documents
Downloads
Music
Pictures
Videos
Desktop

Now set your FileManagers to show the hidden files and selectively move the entire ~/.filename folder from the old to the new for the apps whose content and settings you wish to retain. E.G., moving the .mozilla and .thunderbird folders will get these apps back to near full function immediately. To get absolute full function with 0% loss, it may be necessary to copy across their respective caches from the ~/.cache/.filename locations. Unlike the first actions, the hidden configs are not quite so sensitive, but take care when you find the new login homedir already has a hidden directory for a specific app. For example, overwriting content in ~/.conky could break stuff, so use care and caution wherever you see an existing folder with the same name in the new homedir.

If you focus on the most important app types first you will get more than enough function and having moved the content out of the saved homedir, it should be relatively small. I've kept my old homedirs around for up to 6 months before I deleted them, so it doesn't cause any harm to have them hanging around.

One last thing, if you have sufficient RAM and a little time, do your updates and app installs/removals while you're booted live BEFORE you run the installer. As this all runs in RAM memory, it will work at the highest possible speed for your machine, and all the package updates, additions and removals will be integrated with your fixed disk installation when you run the installer. It has been my experience a machine with 8GB RAM is capable of pulling in a whopping 3 months worth of updates along with a Debian minor increment such as from 12.8 to 12.9 with room to spare, so a 900MB package download unpacked to RAM, plus the live system in RAM space. I once hit 7.6GB of RAM used and it was all integrated into the installed system.

You can always check your headroom any time when running live by simply watching the available drive space at the bottom of the File Manager from demos' home, works in Fluxbox, KDE & Xfce, can't speak for rPI as I haven't got one.

EDIT - multiple edits, clarifications, typos and errors corrected, I really could do with a spelling and grammar check, a new set of eyeballs and intravenous coffee

[m_pav]

For a fresh install, it is better to have the root / , and the /home, into 2 different partitions (and a swap partition too ~same size of the RAM)
(use the : user-installed-packages .. before to save the list of your current installed packages)

That's all personal preferences, but as for the swap being equal to RAM, I totally disagree.

My daily has 16GB RAM and 6GB Swap, my ManCave has 32GB RAM and 8Gb Swap. It all depends on your use type. It's ridiculous to allocate 128 GB for swap on a Desktop machine with 128GB RAM unless you're smashing out 8K videos and editing 40K images, and therein, one would be better advised to use a fully fledged server for efficiency, not a regular Desktop.

I have an 11" HP craptop with 2GB RAM soldered to the motherboard & no option to increase, so I allocate 4GB Swap. Each machine is set and used within its capacity and on a machine with more than 2 internal drives, I might put a swap partition on each drive to facilitate more efficient use for when push comes to shove.

[oops]

For a fresh install, it is better to have the root / , and the /home, into 2 different partitions (and a swap partition too ~same size of the RAM)
(use the : user-installed-packages .. before to save the list of your current installed packages)

That's all personal preferences, but as for the swap being equal to RAM, I totally disagree.

My daily has 16GB RAM and 6GB Swap, my ManCave has 32GB RAM and 8Gb Swap. It all depends on your use type. It's ridiculous to allocate 128 GB for swap on a Desktop machine with 128GB RAM unless you're smashing out 8K videos and editing 40K images, and therein, one would be better advised to use a fully fledged server for efficiency, not a regular Desktop.

I have an 11" HP craptop with 2GB RAM soldered to the motherboard & no option to increase, so I allocate 4GB Swap. Each machine is set and used within its capacity and on a machine with more than 2 internal drives, I might put a swap partition on each drive to facilitate more efficient use for when push comes to shove.

I agree too, but for a not expert user, it is a simple rule to have. (and I said for the swap: ~ (means almost) ... also depends if hibernation is needed or not, etc . And even 16MB for a 512MB or 1TB Hdd is not a big deal.

[DukeComposed]

I agree too, but for a not expert user, it is a simple rule to have. (and I said for the swap: ~ (means almost) ... also depends if hibernation is needed or not

We've had multiple threads recently of users asking why their systems are suddenly unusable on recent installs and they all involved a new 50-60 GB root partition at capacity, with a 20-30 GB swap file taking up half their space and flatpaks consuming the rest under /var. Unless hibernation is a must-have feature for you, a small swap file is fine. If you're doing the kind of computing that benefits from having a ton of swap, then you've graduated from "not an expert" to "knows what you're doing well enough to make an informed decision".

[oops]

... Yes, but it is more easy to resize the swap partition than the others partitions.

[DukeComposed]

... Yes, but it is more easy to resize the swap partition than the others partitions.

Resizing partitions is not a trivial operation, especially for "not an expert" users. Perhaps you meant resizing a swap file.

Resizing swap files is not a trivial operation for "not an expert" users who, often, don't even know what a swap file is.

Either you suggest new users invest in a huge amount of swap space they likely don't need, won't use, and which will eat half their root partition in a default MX install, or you suggest to new users that resizing swap is "easy". In the latter case, there's nothing wrong with starting with a small swap file.