Experts from the site :
"FoxClone is a Linux based image backup, restore and clone tool using a simple point and click interface. Booted from its' own linux system, it takes images of the partitions on your hard disk (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) and stores them for later restoration. Image files can optionally be compressed to save space."
The software worked blazingly fast as SSD's were employed at both ends that too without a single error! I booted from the new SSD and was blown away with the ease of overall process.
The creator of the software has declined my request to reimburse in any way possible. Hence I'm sharing it with HN for all Linux users.
It's unclear from reading the site : does it offer anything more than `dd` would allow, or is the added value primarily to be a ready to use interface for those less used to unix tools?
- `rsync -qaHAXS src dest` - `btrfs/zfs send/recv`
Lately I standardized around ZFS, so I've moved several times my install using send and receive (even using SSH) and it's beautiful.
What I do need to replicate from time to time (whenever I deal with multiple machines) are 1) my data and 2) my settings / dotfiles. For the former, I use Syncthing (and of, course, backups because syncing can easily go wrong). As for the latter, I've been curating my dotfiles for ten years now and over time added various install scripts, which not only put the dotfiles in the right place but also install and set up the software they are for. One install script e.g. installs zsh, sets it as my default shell and creates a symlink from `~/.zshrc` to my zsh config. Basically, whenever I set up a new machine, I just need to run those scripts and I'm good to go within a few minutes.
Since the 18.04 has a history of experiments more or less successful, I want to start from scratch.
I want to be able to rollback in case something goes wrong, but I have only one M2 drive for my system.
So cloning to an external drive, making sure I can boot from it and then delete the existing system gives me peace of mind.
