i want to test debian trixie (13) so i can report bugs and troubleshoot before the release later this year. i thought about simply installing trixie alongside my current bookworm installation, but that won’t be my scenario when the time comes, since i’ve been updating my system instead of reinstalling it since debian jessie (8) and this time it won’t be different. how can i clone my current system so i can simulate an update to trixie? do i simply create a new partition and copy my files over, then chroot to it and install grub?

  • mina86@lemmy.wtfEnglish
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    1 day ago

    What others wrote except don’t use dd. Use rsync or make a backup with tar. dd will waste time reading unallocated regions of the disk.

  • lordnikon@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 days ago

    Using timeshift would be perfect for this. I run sid and use this all the time to restore back to a snapshot on a bad upgrade.

  • harsh3466@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    You can do this with the dd command. To prep:

    Set up a live boot USB stick with your distro of choice.

    Install another SSD/nvme/HDD at least the same size as your bookworm install into your bookworm machine. If that’s not an option connect a USB drive that’s at least the same size as the drive with your bookworm installation.

    Boot into the live USB on the bookworm machine.

    Make sure the partition(s) from your bookworm install are unmounted.

    Quadruple check the drives/devices for the dd command. Here’s the basics of the command:

    dd if=/device/where/bookworm/is/installed of=USB/or/second/drive/in/machine bs=8M status=progress

    So, if your bookworm install is on /dev/sda, and the USB or secondary is /dev/sdb, then the Cmand would be:

    dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=8M status=progress

  • darius@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    I would recommend cloning the entire disk to another disk of equal or greater size before, best procedure is to boot to a USB installation, run Gnome-Disk-Utility, create a disk image onto a second larger disk, then restore that image to a third disk which is equal or greater in terms of capacity to your bookworm disk, then unplug your orignal bookwork disk amd then attempt to boot from that third disk (fingers crossed)

    If you’re comfortable with the dd command that’s another route to take but if you’re not paying attention you can very easily wipe your own disk!