Hello
I currently have Manjaro XFCE on dual boot with other linux distro on a very old laptop that other wise would be trash.
I intend to fresh install Manjaro Xfce on my other laptops that run Win10 that are more recent.
I thinks I know the steps for dual boot with win 10 and I want to keep grub has a bootloader.
My question is:
After I fresh install everything I would like to transfer all my appearance/customization settings to the new installation.
How do I do that?
Thanks
Thanks,
Will definitely look into that.
Wouldn’t it be simpler just o copy folders .config , .Mozilla, .thunderbird to and usb and then on the new installation paste them to overwrite the existing ones?
You can do exactly as you see fit - why would you ask unless you already considered the simpler copy approach and hoped for something more automated?
I only pointed you to the script because it provides a simple scripted transfer which can be reused.
I don’t know how to run scripts…
I just want the fresh installation to look like the one I’m used to, without having to set up everything from scratch without raising issues.
A script is a series of commands which are executed sequentially.
The script does exactly that - and the usage is described in the topic.
If you want to transfer other folders - simply add them to the folderlist array as described in the script.
You don’t need to make the script executable - it can be run using a shell command e.g.
bash <scriptname>
Edit: Renamed thread title to suit the actual query.
Partly this is true. Messing up KDE and reinstalling taught me a couple of tricks.
Dual Pane browsers are great for browsing my HOME and my BACKUP/HOME. So I can selectively copy something in (for example, my .mozilla folder - straight copy).
Some configs aren’t great for new hardware - so you can’t restore a backup.
Most time is taken setting up stuff like Servarr/Plex etc.
You want to be sure to copy back your theming and desktop configs.
But also, you should generate a package list - just dump that on your desktop maybe: pacman -Qqet | grep -v "$(pacman -Qqg)" | grep -v "$(pacman -Qqm)" > ~/Desktop/pkglist.txt
You can take time to edit that, because you might want your new install to be less ‘bloated’… or you might just want to install items and delete them one-by-one as you set it up.
But in the end, there’s still a fair bit of work - so if your current installation doesn’t need significant cleaning, I’d just go with the automatic route 
Now, as far as running scripts is concerned - it’s easy. It’s certainly something you should know, and writing scripts is often very very simple.
Try it with something stupidly simple:
cd ~/Desktoptouch simple.sh#!/usr/bin/env bash
date +"It's now %R" | cowthink
echo "Enter a random number from 1 to 200 (I won't look!)?"
read TIME
echo "Your number is $TIME!"
So now you have a script, but can’t run it.
Terminal again, on Desktop. Add the permission to ‘execute’ which is ‘+X’:
chmod +x simple.sh
Now if you double click that file, it will run (but you’ll see nowt).
So run it in terminal (Start with a period)
./simple.sh (it should automcomplete if you hit tab after typing './si`).
or type bash simple.sh
I’ll drop this here for consideration.
Transferring settings to a new install can save a lot of time, as long as the existing profile has no issues. If one has a troublesome profile to begin with, copying to a new profile can transfer those issues aswell; which is probably not what anyone desires.
Just being the devil’s advocate; as needed.
Well the question did really imply finding a simpler option to more or less transfer the system, in which case that’s going to work.
I agree with you, having done it once or twice, now I opt for a dual pane copying - keep it under control, starting with basics like my layout/themes and keyboard shortcuts…
I’m not sure about .xfce but I know Plasma has quite a lot that’s worth copying, and quite a lot that’s worth leaving behind…
I disagree with the thread title now, however, because the thread is discussing the whole system, pacman and AUR packages (interestingly ignoring Flatpak, there should be a flatpak list in there somewhere…) as well as just settings.
After that, you install Authy then copy in the ~/.config/Authy Desktop folder etc… it depends how much time you will allocate the task.
@linux-aarhus will be finished in ten minutes, I’ll take half a day.
I don’t want to transfer the whole system since the laptop I’m using XFCE on is very old hardware from 2007 I only added RAM for total 3GB and SSD 120GB drive.
The laptops I want to make dual boot have Win 10 installed and are from around 2015/2017 with 8GB RAM and SSD drive as a primary boot and HDD has added storage.
Since Windooze 10 will end support soon and this laptops (I have 4 and the old 2007 one) do not support W11 and and I want to ditch Windooze anyway, I intend to have Manjaro XFCE (which I already use on my oldest laptop) on dual boot with W10.
Eventually in the future erase the Win10 (once support ends) and have Manjaro only.
I’m a casual user not advanced in any way.
I only want the same settings which are mostly visual (like icons, themes, keyboard shortcuts etc) on all laptops
I would like to install Manjaro form scratch install all apps I use and them “transfer” all these visual settings to the new installs so that the user experience is the same across the various laptops.
Something I could do over USB pen or FTP (using Filezilla) and baammm!
Have the same visual user expererince across different hardware laptops.
Something like setting Thunderbird which I recently started using across all laptops (since Mail 10 will end in 2024) and you export all Tbird config to all installs and that’s it.
On the topic of Thunderbird; I found it easy enough to transfer not only settings, but all mail aswell, to another machine (Linux to Linux). That saved having to wait for all mail to download from the servers again.
I’m trying to use your script.
I already fresh installed latest updated Manjaro XFCE on dual boot with Win 10 successfully (I followed you guide also).
I already copied the backup files to an USB pen.
Do you recommend running the 3 files immediately after a fresh Manjaro install (after all updates)?
Or install all apps on the fresh install and them run it?
I’m a bit confused since the package files contain the repos, does this mean the apps will be installed after running the 2 package files and them run the config?
Thanks
That is the idea.
Yes the script generates 3 files - those three files contains what should be necessary to restore a well known experience.
