Difference between revisions of "User:Gen2ly/System backup and reinstall"

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[[Category: System recovery (English)]]
+
[[Category:System recovery]]
−
[[Category: HOWTOs(English)]]
+
This article is intended to show you how to backup your configurations and your package list, then to do a full system restore, restore packages, and finally restore your configurations..
−
This is an uncommon document for the reason that the need to restore from 'configurations only' is only necessary when:
+
 
−
# When a program or programs begin to behave unexpectedly and no help in the forums (or elsewhere) is available is able to fix the problem. By chance reinstalling your programs and other configurations might fix the problem.
+
== Motivation ==
 +
 
 +
The need for this documentation is uncommon in the sense that the need to restore from ''configurations only'' is only really necessary for the following reasons:
 +
 
 +
# You would like to change your system architecture (e.g. 32bit to 64bit).
 +
# If a program or programs begin to behave unexpectedly and no help in the forums (or elsewhere) is available is able to fix the problem. By chance reinstalling your programs and other configurations might fix the problem.
 
# You have limited hard disk space and are not capable of doing a full restore from backup.
 
# You have limited hard disk space and are not capable of doing a full restore from backup.
  
−
{{Tip|If you are a regular computer user, generally it is good practice to backup your primary drive to a backup hard drive after getting your system installed. Secondary storage disks can be found relatively inexpensively and are able to store/restore an entire drive of programs, configurations, documents... in a safe and quick way. If you have a hardware setup like this, look at programs like the [http://clonezilla.org/ Clonezilla CD], or the [http://partedmagic.com/ Parted Magic CD] (includes Clonzilla and other tools) which are both open-source and can image your hard drive to another drive.}}
+
{{Tip|If you are a regular computer user, generally it is good practice to backup your primary drive to a backup hard drive after getting your system installed. Secondary storage disks can be found relatively inexpensively these days and are able to store/restore an entire drive of programs, configurations, documents, etc. in a safe and reliable way. If you have a hardware setup like this, look at programs like the [http://clonezilla.org/ Clonezilla CD], or the [http://partedmagic.com/ Parted Magic CD] (includes Clonzilla and other tools) which are both open-source and can image your hard drive for later restoration.}}
−
 
 
−
This document is designed to show you how to: add commonly-used/necessary configurations in an include file in a single step, back them up on a regular basis, and how to restore all your configurations and packages when rebuilding your system.
 
  
−
==Backup==
+
== Backup ==
  
−
The tar compression tool with a couple helper scripts can backup your configurations in a few steps.
+
Using {{ic|tar}} in a script can make archiving configurations get done in just a couple steps.
  
−
===Include/Exclude Files ===
+
=== Include and exclude files ===
  
−
Tar has the ability to read from an "include" file that has a list of files (configurations, documents, etc.) to be included when compressing. The format is stored line by line with its full base path. For example:
+
Tar has the ability to read from both an include and an exclude file. This means that you can tell tar everything you would like to include in the backup and exclude just by using two files. The format used is one line per file or directory that indicates the full path. For example:
  
−
<pre>
+
{{bc|
 
/etc/pacman.conf
 
/etc/pacman.conf
 
/etc/rc.conf
 
/etc/rc.conf
 
/home/user
 
/home/user
 
...
 
...
−
</pre>
+
}}
  
 
And is invoked like this:
 
And is invoked like this:
  
−
  tar --files-from=include.txt --exclude-from=exclude.txt -cvpzf backupname.tar.gz
+
  tar --files-from=include.txt --exclude-from=exclude.txt -c --xz -f backupname.tar.xz
  
−
The name of the include file can be anything you want, and an exclude file can be used like in the example above. The exclude file is like the include file but additionally has the ability to be able to use [http://www.regular-expressions.info/ regexps], can be commented, and have blank lines:
+
The name of the files can be anything you want. The exclude file is like the include file but additionally has the ability to be able to use [http://www.regular-expressions.info/ regexps], as well as being able to be commented and have blank lines.
  
−
<pre>
+
=== Packages ===
−
# Trashes not necessary
 
−
/home/*/.local/share/Trash/files
 
−
/home/*/.Trash
 
−
</pre>
 
  
−
===Adding to (In|Ex)clude Files in One Step===
+
Package lists can be created that can re-install your programs upon a restore. If you have the hard disk space available, you might also want to consider saving the install packages ({{ic|*.pkg.tar.gz}}) as well.
  
−
To help add file names, folders... to the include and exclude files, a couple bash scripts can be used to accomplish this.  '''bca''' (backup-config-add) and '''bce''' (backup-cfg-exclude) can be used from the command line like this:
+
==== Creating a package list ====
  
−
<pre>
+
You can create a list of all installed ''official'' packages with:
−
bca /etc/X11/xorg.conf
 
−
cd /home/user
 
−
bce .thumbnails/
 
−
</pre>
 
  
−
Both scripts detect the full path so writing a relative or partial path (like in the example above) are acceptable.  Put them in your script directory and make them executable to add a file anytime you think of it.
+
$ pacman -Qqe | grep -v "$(pacman -Qqm)" > pkglist-off.txt
  
−
<pre>
+
This will create a list of all packages in the official, enabled [[pacman]] repositories (i.e. core, extra, community and testing).
−
#!/bin/bash
 
−
# bce (backup-config-exclude) - add files to be excluded in backup
 
  
−
excludeloc=/home/user/.scripts/backup/exclude.txt
+
To create a list of all ''local'' packages (includes packages installed from the [[AUR]]):
  
−
# Add file/folder/link to list
+
$ pacman -Qqm > pkglist-loc.txt
−
if [[ -z "$@" ]]; then
 
−
  echo " bce <file/folder/list> - add exclusions to backing up configurations"
 
−
  else
 
−
  echo "`readlink -f "$@"`" >> $excludeloc
 
−
fi
 
−
</pre>
 
  
−
<pre>
+
==== Saving package tarballs ====
−
#!/bin/bash
 
−
# bca (backup-cfg-add) - add file/folders to the backup-cfg include file
 
  
−
incfile=/home/user/.scripts/backup/include.txt
+
Pacman saves all package tarballs in {{ic|/var/cache/pacman/pkg/}}. Saving these will increase your re-install speed so consider saving these as well. You might want to think about reducing the size of the cache before backing up too. Pacman has the ability to remove any uninstalled packages from the cache with:
−
fullpath=$(readlink -f "$@")
 
  
−
# Display usage if full argument is not given
+
# pacman -Sc
−
if [[ -z "$@" ]]; then
 
−
  echo " bca <file/folder/link> -  add files/folders/links to backup-cfgs' include file"
 
−
  exit
 
−
fi
 
  
−
# Test if path exists
+
===== Yaourt =====
−
if [ ! -e "$fullpath" ]; then
 
−
  echo -e " File "$@" does not exist."
 
−
  exit
 
−
fi
 
  
−
# Add entry
+
If you use [[Yaourt]] to install packages from the AUR, you might want to consider setting up a cache for it (Yaourt by default does not save the built package tarballs). To setup a cache directory, edit {{ic|/etc/yaourtrc}} to include one:
−
echo "$fullpath" >> "$incfile"
 
−
echo -e "${bldblu}*${txtrst} Added ${undwht}$fullpath${txtrst} in backup include file"
 
  
−
# Sort entries
+
  ExportToLocalRepository /var/cache/pacman/pkg-local
−
sort -u "$incfile" -o "$incfile"
 
−
</pre>
 
−
 
 
−
===Backup Script===
 
−
A tar backup script can be built and then be automated to run on a regular basis.
 
−
 
 
−
This backup script names your backup by hostname and date, specifies your include and exclude file locations, and removes old backups:
 
−
 
 
−
<pre>
 
−
#!/bin/bash
 
−
# backup-cfg - backup configurations with tar
 
−
 
 
−
# Backup name
 
−
machine=$HOSTNAME
 
−
distro=arch
 
−
type=configs
 
−
date=`date "+%F"`
 
−
backupname=$machine-$distro-$type-$date
 
−
 
 
−
# Backup destination
 
−
backdest="/opt/backup"
 
−
 
 
−
# Files containing information to include and exclude
 
−
include_file="/home/user/.scripts/backup/include.txt"
 
−
exclude_file="/home/user/.scripts/backup/exclude.txt"
 
−
 
 
−
# Verify that the target directory exists.
 
−
if [ ! -d $backdest ]; then
 
−
  echo " Backup directory does not exist, creating"
 
−
  mkdir $backdest
 
−
  else
 
−
  echo " Backup directory exists."
 
−
fi
 
−
 
 
−
# Delete backups older than two months
 
−
if [[ -n "$(find "$backdest" -mtime +60)" ]]; then
 
−
  find "$backdest"/$machine-$distro-$type-* -mtime +60 -exec rm {} \;
 
−
  echo -e " Backups older than two months deleted"
 
−
fi
 
−
 
 
−
# Unmount other drives/partitions
 
−
#umount -a
 
−
 
 
−
# Backup
 
−
tar --exclude-from=$exclude_file --files-from=$include_file -cvpzf \
 
−
$backdest/$backupname.tar.gz
 
−
</pre>
 
−
 
 
−
To do automated backups (for example, every week), put the script in your root crontab ({{Codeline|crontab -e}}):
 
−
 
 
−
<pre>
 
−
#
 
−
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE MANUALLY!! USE crontab -e INSTEAD.
 
−
#
 
−
 
 
−
  50 00  *  *  0      /home/user/.scripts/backup/backup-cfg
 
−
# |  |  |  |  |  user
 
−
# |  |  |  |  weekday (0-6) (Sunday=0)
 
−
# |  |  |  month (1-12)
 
−
# |  |  day (0-31)
 
−
# |  hour (0-23)
 
−
# minute (0-59)
 
−
</pre>
 
−
 
 
−
===What Not to Include in a Backup===
 
−
 
 
−
There are some files that should not be included in the backup directly.  The reason for this will become apparently later in the document.  For now, if you want these files backed up copy them to a new name:
 
−
 
 
−
<pre>
 
−
cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst-good
 
−
cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab-good
 
−
cp /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers-good
 
−
</pre>
 
−
 
 
−
Then add them to your include file.
 
−
 
 
−
===Packages===
 
−
 
 
−
A package list can be created that can restore your installed packages.  If you have the hard disk space available, you might want to also consider saving the install packages ({{Filename|*.pkg.tar.gz}}) as well.
 
−
 
 
−
====Creating a Package List====
 
−
 
 
−
You can create a list of official installed packages with:
 
−
 
 
−
pacman -Qqet | grep -v "$(pacman -Qqm)" > /opt/backup/pkg-official
 
−
bca /opt/backup/pkg-official
 
−
 
 
−
This will create a list of all packages in the enabled [[pacman]] repositories (i.e. core, extra, community and testing).
 
−
 
 
−
To create a list of all local packages (includes packages installed from the [[AUR]]):
 
−
 
 
−
pacman -Qqmt > /opt/backup/pkg-local
 
−
bca /opt/backup/pkg-local
 
−
 
 
−
Alternately, you can use the [http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=22747 packup] utility in the AUR.  Packup is a backup and restore from list utility with a menu driven interface.  Packup will create a list and save it in the root folder.  If you use packup, consider creating a separate list for official and local packages for easier debugging later.
 
−
 
 
−
====Saving Package Tarballs====
 
−
 
 
−
Pacman saves all package tarballs in {{Filename|/var/cache/pacman/pkg/}}.  Saving these will increase the re-install speed so consider adding this folder to your include file.  You might want to think about reducing the size of the cache before backing up, though.  Pacman has the ability to remove any un-installed packages from the cache with:
 
−
 
 
−
pacman -Sc
 
−
 
 
−
If you use [[Yaourt]] to install packages from the AUR, you might want to consider setting up a cache for it too (Yaourt by default does not save the built package tarballs).  To setup a cache directory, edit {{Filename|/etc/yaourtrc}} to include one:
 
−
 
 
−
  ExportToLocalRepository /var/cache/yaourt/pkg
 
  
 
Then give the directory the necessary permissions so Yaourt can write to it as a regular user:
 
Then give the directory the necessary permissions so Yaourt can write to it as a regular user:
  
−
  mkdir -p /var/cache/yaourt/pkg
+
  # mkdir -p /var/cache/pacman/pkg-local
−
  chmod 766 /var/cache/yaourt/pkg/
+
  # chmod 766 /var/cache/pacman/pkg-local
−
 
 
−
And add it to your include file:
 
−
 
 
−
bca /var/cache/yaourt/pkg/
 
  
−
===Storing the Backup===
+
Copy these packages to your seperate medium.
  
−
The examples above save the backups to the same partition (provided you do not have a separate /opt partition).  If you have the hard disk space, use a separate partition or drive.  The [http://partedmagic.com/ Parted Magic CD] has Gparted on it to help do this.  If you do not you will need to put them on a separate media before you restore.  If you absolutely have to, you can break up tar files and span them over [http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Backup_to_DVD multiple disks].
+
=== Storing the backup ===
  
−
==Restoring==
+
After you have made up your tarred configurations, package lists, and (optionally) your install packages, you are going to need to store them on a seperate medium than your install partition/drive. Do not put your package lists and install packages in your tarred configurations. This is because all packages must be reinstalled first before you restore your configurations to prevent file conflicts (pacman will not install packages with file conflicts). If you have large enough USB Flash Drive these work well. Optionally you can burn them to a CD or use a partition utility like {{Pkg|gparted}} to create an extra partition. If using CD's you can span large archives by using the [http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Backup_to_DVD split utility]. To create a new partition consider using the [http://partedmagic.com/ Parted Magic CD] which has GParted on it.
  
−
Restoring will require: reinstalling the base system, extracting the backup configurations back to the new system, checking for conflicts, and reinstalling the previously installed packages.
+
== Restoring ==
  
−
===Extracting Configurations===
+
Restoring will involve:
  
−
Install Arch Linux as you normally would and then mount the partition with your backup in it:
+
# Installing the base system through the AIF (Arch Installation Framework).
 +
# Changing root.
 +
# Reinstalling all your packages.
 +
# Extracting your configurations.
 +
# Adding a new user.
  
−
mkdir /backup-part
+
=== AIF install ===
−
mount /dev/<your-partition> /backup-part
 
  
−
Then extract your backup onto the new install:
+
Install Arch Linux as you normally would through the AIF on the LiveCD.
  
−
tar xvf hostname-arch-configs-date-tar.gz -C /mnt
+
=== Change root ===
  
−
The installer will have already mounted your install partition on /mnt. This is where not including those files directly above comes in handy. Doing this will overwrite any files that match with your backup and the new install. Check your good mount file (fstab) and bootloader file (menu.lst) with the new install version and update where necessary.  Reboot.
+
When finished, mount your USB Flash Drive (or whatever medium you choose to save your configurations... on).
  
−
===Adding a User===
+
# mkdir /backup-files
 +
# mount /dev/''disk-drive-parition'' /backup-files
  
−
When creating a user consider giving the user a unique user id (UID).  This will help prevent conflicts in the future with other users and programs having the same UID (UIDs for users generally start at 1000):
+
Your Arch install will already be mounted on {{ic|/mnt}} so now copy these files to your Arch install:
  
−
<pre>
+
# mkdir -p /mnt/opt/restore
−
useradd -m -u 1050 -G audio,optical,power,storage,users,video -s /bin/bash user
+
# cd /backup-files
−
</pre>
+
# cp -a * /mnt/opt/restore
  
−
If you have restored a user home directory (/home/user) from your backup configurations, the '''-m''' switch will give a warning about an already existing home directory but will not alter the directory.  Do not forget to change permissions in your home directory if your UIDs differ:
+
Now you will need to [[change root]] to your Arch install:
  
−
  chown -R username:users /home/user
+
  $ cd /mnt
 +
# cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/etc
 +
# mount -t proc none /mnt/arch/proc
 +
# mount -t sysfs none /mnt/arch/sys
 +
# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/arch/dev
 +
# chroot . /bin/bash
  
−
===Installing Yaourt===
+
=== Reinstall your packages ===
−
 
 
−
If you previously had any AUR packages installed, you can install Yaourt to restore the packages:
 
−
 
 
−
<pre>
 
−
wget http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/yaourt/yaourt.tar.gz
 
−
tar xvf yaourt.tar.gz && cd yaourt*
 
−
makepkg -s
 
−
pacman -U yaourt-*.pkg.tar.gz
 
−
</pre>
 
−
 
 
−
===Reinstalling packages===
 
  
 
Reinstall packages from the official repositories, the AUR, and locally installed packages separately to better diagnose problems if they occur.
 
Reinstall packages from the official repositories, the AUR, and locally installed packages separately to better diagnose problems if they occur.
  
−
====Official====
+
==== Official ====
  
 
First reinstall packages from the official repositories;
 
First reinstall packages from the official repositories;
  
−
<pre>
+
pacman -Sy
−
pacman -Sy
+
pacman -S --needed $(cat /opt/restore/pkglist-off.txt)
−
pacman -S --needed $(cat /opt/backup/pkg-official)
+
 
−
</pre>
+
==== The AUR ====
  
−
Pacman will not install packages with file conflicts (i.e. if you have configurations placed that pacman detects an installing package has as well).  Take a note of the conflicting packages and either: move the conflicting configuration (if you know what it is), or force pacman to overwrite the conflicting files:
+
Yaourt comes in handy here.  To quickly install yaourt again:
  
−
  pacman -S -f --needed $(cat /opt/backup/pkg-official)
+
  $ wget http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/yaourt/yaourt.tar.gz
 +
$ tar xvf yaourt.tar.gz && cd yaourt*
 +
$ makepkg -s
 +
# pacman -U yaourt-*.pkg.tar.gz
  
−
If you do this, you will need to find out the conflicting file and reinstall it again.  Pacman can tell you what files a certain package installs:
+
Then to install AUR pakages from the list:
  
−
  pacman -Ql <package>
+
  $ yaourt -S $(cat /opt/restore/pkglist-loc.txt | grep -vx "$(pacman -Qqm)")
  
−
And you can extract the file or files from an archive with:
+
{{ic|grep -vx ...}} here is used to remove packages that are already installed. This comes in useful in case you have to restart the command because you had trouble installing one of the packages. If you have packages already built by yaourt and in your yaourt cache, you can avoid recompiling again by going to that cache and installing the packages manually ({{ic|pacman -U ...}}).
  
−
tar xvf hostname-arch-configs-date-tar.gz etc/hosts etc/resolv.conf
+
=== Extract configurations ===
  
−
and place the file(s) manually where they belong.
+
Once all packages have been installed you can extract the configurations:
  
−
====The AUR====
+
tar xvf /opt/restore/hostname-arch-configs-date-tar.gz -C /mnt
  
−
To reinstall packages from the AUR:
+
A couple things to look out for:
  
−
  yaourt -S $(cat /opt/backup/pkg-local | grep -vx "$(pacman -Qqm)")
+
* Be aware of any changes to your partition layout. If you changed your partition, you will need to edit both {{ic|/etc/fstab}} and {{ic|/boot/grub/menu.lst}}.
 +
* If you had special options for the kernel ram disk (initrd), then you will have to re-compile it before your reboot to get your expected behavior.
  
−
The additional command is to remove from the list any packages already installed.  For example, if there are any problems installing a package from the AUR you will not have to go through the whole list again and tell Yaourt what to install (i.e. Yaourt does not suppport the '''--needed''' switch).  Also, if you created a Yaourt cache before, note that Yaourt does not have the ability to read from the cache before an install.  If you do not want to build all your AUR packages again, these packages will have to be installed manually - see the next step.
+
=== Final details ===
  
−
====Local====
+
Good time to add your user now before you reboot.  When creating a user, consider giving the user a unique user id (UID).  This will help prevent conflicts in the future with other users and programs having the same UID (UIDs for users generally start at 1000):
  
−
If you created a Yaourt cache or have your own packages saved, you can install them with:
+
# useradd -m -u 1050 -G audio,optical,power,storage,users,video -s /bin/bash user
  
−
  pacman -U <*--asdeps> <package>
+
If you have restored a user home directory ({{ic|/home/user}}) from your backup configurations, the {{ic|-m}} switch will give a warning about an already existing home directory but will not alter the directory. Do not forget to change permissions in your home directory if your UIDs differ:
  
−
==External Links==
+
# chown -R username:users /home/user
  
−
* [http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=76218 BBS - List AUR packages and only AUR packages]
+
Now, {{ic|reboot}}. Expect a few unexpected things here. No re-install is perfect. ALSA may pop up a warning and may have to be configure again and there may be a few other things unconsidered. That's it. Congratulations on your reinstall.

Revision as of 10:48, 2 September 2013

This article is intended to show you how to backup your configurations and your package list, then to do a full system restore, restore packages, and finally restore your configurations..

Motivation

The need for this documentation is uncommon in the sense that the need to restore from configurations only is only really necessary for the following reasons:

  1. You would like to change your system architecture (e.g. 32bit to 64bit).
  2. If a program or programs begin to behave unexpectedly and no help in the forums (or elsewhere) is available is able to fix the problem. By chance reinstalling your programs and other configurations might fix the problem.
  3. You have limited hard disk space and are not capable of doing a full restore from backup.
Tip: If you are a regular computer user, generally it is good practice to backup your primary drive to a backup hard drive after getting your system installed. Secondary storage disks can be found relatively inexpensively these days and are able to store/restore an entire drive of programs, configurations, documents, etc. in a safe and reliable way. If you have a hardware setup like this, look at programs like the Clonezilla CD, or the Parted Magic CD (includes Clonzilla and other tools) which are both open-source and can image your hard drive for later restoration.

Backup

Using tar in a script can make archiving configurations get done in just a couple steps.

Include and exclude files

Tar has the ability to read from both an include and an exclude file. This means that you can tell tar everything you would like to include in the backup and exclude just by using two files. The format used is one line per file or directory that indicates the full path. For example: 

/etc/pacman.conf
/etc/rc.conf
/home/user
...

And is invoked like this: 

tar --files-from=include.txt --exclude-from=exclude.txt -c --xz -f backupname.tar.xz

The name of the files can be anything you want. The exclude file is like the include file but additionally has the ability to be able to use regexps, as well as being able to be commented and have blank lines.

Packages

Package lists can be created that can re-install your programs upon a restore. If you have the hard disk space available, you might also want to consider saving the install packages (*.pkg.tar.gz) as well.

Creating a package list

You can create a list of all installed official packages with: 

$ pacman -Qqe | grep -v "$(pacman -Qqm)" > pkglist-off.txt

This will create a list of all packages in the official, enabled pacman repositories (i.e. core, extra, community and testing).

To create a list of all local packages (includes packages installed from the AUR): 

$ pacman -Qqm > pkglist-loc.txt

Saving package tarballs

Pacman saves all package tarballs in /var/cache/pacman/pkg/. Saving these will increase your re-install speed so consider saving these as well. You might want to think about reducing the size of the cache before backing up too. Pacman has the ability to remove any uninstalled packages from the cache with: 

# pacman -Sc
Yaourt

If you use Yaourt to install packages from the AUR, you might want to consider setting up a cache for it (Yaourt by default does not save the built package tarballs). To setup a cache directory, edit /etc/yaourtrc to include one: 

ExportToLocalRepository /var/cache/pacman/pkg-local

Then give the directory the necessary permissions so Yaourt can write to it as a regular user: 

# mkdir -p /var/cache/pacman/pkg-local
# chmod 766 /var/cache/pacman/pkg-local

Copy these packages to your seperate medium.

Storing the backup

After you have made up your tarred configurations, package lists, and (optionally) your install packages, you are going to need to store them on a seperate medium than your install partition/drive. Do not put your package lists and install packages in your tarred configurations. This is because all packages must be reinstalled first before you restore your configurations to prevent file conflicts (pacman will not install packages with file conflicts). If you have large enough USB Flash Drive these work well. Optionally you can burn them to a CD or use a partition utility like gparted to create an extra partition. If using CD's you can span large archives by using the split utility. To create a new partition consider using the Parted Magic CD which has GParted on it.

Restoring

Restoring will involve:

  1. Installing the base system through the AIF (Arch Installation Framework).
  2. Changing root.
  3. Reinstalling all your packages.
  4. Extracting your configurations.
  5. Adding a new user.

AIF install

Install Arch Linux as you normally would through the AIF on the LiveCD.

Change root

When finished, mount your USB Flash Drive (or whatever medium you choose to save your configurations... on). 

# mkdir /backup-files
# mount /dev/disk-drive-parition /backup-files

Your Arch install will already be mounted on /mnt so now copy these files to your Arch install: 

# mkdir -p /mnt/opt/restore
# cd /backup-files
# cp -a * /mnt/opt/restore

Now you will need to change root to your Arch install: 

$ cd /mnt
# cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/etc
# mount -t proc none /mnt/arch/proc
# mount -t sysfs none /mnt/arch/sys
# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/arch/dev
# chroot . /bin/bash

Reinstall your packages

Reinstall packages from the official repositories, the AUR, and locally installed packages separately to better diagnose problems if they occur.

Official

First reinstall packages from the official repositories; 

pacman -Sy
pacman -S --needed $(cat /opt/restore/pkglist-off.txt)

The AUR

Yaourt comes in handy here. To quickly install yaourt again: 

$ wget http://aur.archlinux.org/packages/yaourt/yaourt.tar.gz
$ tar xvf yaourt.tar.gz && cd yaourt*
$ makepkg -s
# pacman -U yaourt-*.pkg.tar.gz

Then to install AUR pakages from the list: 

$ yaourt -S $(cat /opt/restore/pkglist-loc.txt | grep -vx "$(pacman -Qqm)")

grep -vx ... here is used to remove packages that are already installed. This comes in useful in case you have to restart the command because you had trouble installing one of the packages. If you have packages already built by yaourt and in your yaourt cache, you can avoid recompiling again by going to that cache and installing the packages manually (pacman -U ...).

Extract configurations

Once all packages have been installed you can extract the configurations: 

tar xvf /opt/restore/hostname-arch-configs-date-tar.gz -C /mnt

A couple things to look out for:

  • Be aware of any changes to your partition layout. If you changed your partition, you will need to edit both /etc/fstab and /boot/grub/menu.lst.
  • If you had special options for the kernel ram disk (initrd), then you will have to re-compile it before your reboot to get your expected behavior.

Final details

Good time to add your user now before you reboot. When creating a user, consider giving the user a unique user id (UID). This will help prevent conflicts in the future with other users and programs having the same UID (UIDs for users generally start at 1000): 

# useradd -m -u 1050 -G audio,optical,power,storage,users,video -s /bin/bash user

If you have restored a user home directory (/home/user) from your backup configurations, the -m switch will give a warning about an already existing home directory but will not alter the directory. Do not forget to change permissions in your home directory if your UIDs differ: 

# chown -R username:users /home/user

Now, reboot. Expect a few unexpected things here. No re-install is perfect. ALSA may pop up a warning and may have to be configure again and there may be a few other things unconsidered. That's it. Congratulations on your reinstall.

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