Re: File transfer
Quoting David Christensen (dpchrist@holgerdanske.com):
> Verifying the image by wiping the system drive and then restoring the image:
>
> 1. Wipe the system drive using your tool of choice (such as the
> drive manufacturer's bootable utility disc).
>
> 2. Perform imaging steps 1 through 7, above.
>
> 3. Verify the checksum of the image file:
>
> # cd /mnt/image/p43200
>
> # md5sum -c p43200-20150227-2200-debian-7-amd64-xfce-op.img.md5
>
> 4. Restore the image file to the system drive:
>
> # dd if=p43200-20150227-2200-debian-7-amd64-xfce-op.img of=/dev/sdc
>
> Look at the block count when done -- it should match what you
> started with. (Things might be goofy if the system drive and the
> image destination drive use different block sizes.)
>
> 5. Perform imaging steps 10 and 11, above.
>
> 6. Boot the system, log in, and have a look around. If everything
> looks good, proceed with using the computer. If it's broken, wipe
> the system drive, do a fresh install, and try again.
I don't know how to "have a look around. If everything looks good,
proceed with using the computer." Not a clue.
OTOH having generated an md5sum of the backup, why not just pipe a
repeat dd into md5sum and see if they match. If you must be thorough,
then wipe and restore the system and dd | md5sum again.
Another small point; by "do a fresh install", do you mean repeat your
restoration? Or install afresh, ie from scratch?
An unrelated question is how often do you do all this, and how do you
age your image. By "age" I mean how long do you treat it as a valid
image because your live system is evolving from the moment you start
reusing it after imaging it.
Myself, I prefer to archive (original and modified) copies of any
system files I change, any configuration commands I've used, package
lists, non-Debian debs etc. and re-install from scratch.
(We're going off topic...)
Cheers,
David.
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