Re: Is it possible to fully reinstall the base system without affecting /home?
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On Mon, Feb 22, 2016 at 11:20:24AM +0100, arian wrote:
>
> Just to make sure, your filesystem is OK, right?
>
> > But I thought I'd ask if there's anything close to this that would not
> > require backing up everything and reformatting the hard disk.
> > Wouldn't it be possible, for example, to boot the system up from a
> > live CD, and reinstall the base system, leaving /home untouched? (I
> > should mention that the hard disk in question is just one big
> > partition, including /home and everything else.)
>
> Just do a normal install with manual filesystem configuration, choose
> the existing partition with the prior filesystem format and make sure
> to _not_ choose format partition.
This was my impression too: installation should not wipe home (actually
it should'nt wipe anything, e.g. /usr/local and friends, just overwrite
existing packages with their newer versions.
That said, and as arian states, it's easy to fat-finger something and
format your disks, so a backup is in order; and you might meet some
niggles, like new packages stumbling upon older configurations and
data in your home (think ~/.config, but also ~/.openffice.org, ~/.gimp
and whatever nice things apps put into your home). Some may cope
and some not.
regards
- -- t
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