Difference between revisions of "Cloning a computer"
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= Reasons = | = Reasons = | ||
− | * You want to have a stand-in computer in case your "pet computer" | + | * You want to have a stand-in computer in case your "pet computer" breaks. In this case it is enough to copy every file from hard disk A to hard disk B. |
* You want to [[virtualize your computer]]. In this case you will have to dump every byte from your source (physical) to your target (virtual) computer. | * You want to [[virtualize your computer]]. In this case you will have to dump every byte from your source (physical) to your target (virtual) computer. | ||
Revision as of 15:46, 29 December 2011
Cloning a computer means you have one computer and want to copy the complete harddisk to another. This can mean different things and can have different reasons.
Reasons
- You want to have a stand-in computer in case your "pet computer" breaks. In this case it is enough to copy every file from hard disk A to hard disk B.
- You want to virtualize your computer. In this case you will have to dump every byte from your source (physical) to your target (virtual) computer.
Over the network
Clone a Linux computer
When cloning a Linux installation, you will be able to pack all files, like that:
cd / tar -cvz $(ls | grep -v proc) | ssh root@192.168.0.5 "cat >slash.tar.gz"
Clone any computer
This is how you can clone the harddisk of any computer, even if it is an encrypted Windows computer. Boot the computer from Knoppix, open a console, enter
dd if=/dev/sdx | bzip2 -z | ssh root@192.168.0.5 "(cat >backup-sdx.bz2)"
Be sure to replace /dev/sdx by the harddisk you want to clone and 192.168.0.5 by your target computer's IP.
local
Local cloning is e.g. to a USB disk to make a USB disk bootable:
cd / tar -cv $(ls | grep -v proc | grep -v sys) | ( cd /mnt/sda3; tar xv ) mkdir /mnt/sda3/proc /mnt/sda3/sys