How to install Manjaro on another computer while keeping my current configuration

Hi All,
I am liking Manjaro so much that I want to install it on another computer I own.
I would be dual booting with Windows 10 on that machine as well (I currently dual boot with Windows 10 and Manjaro - KDE).

Since I have spent quite a bit of time customizing my Manjaro installation, I would like to duplicate it on the new computer without manually making all of the same changes.

I searched the forum and found three threads that propose different solutions, but I’m not certain that two of them apply (the OP was asking about moving Manjaro to a different disk or partition on the same computer).

If it is easier, I could easily install Manjaro KDE on the other computer first (this way I won’t have to worry about Grub pointing to incorrect partitions as they will be different between the two computers).

Here are the three posts that I found:

So if anyone could kindly offer some advice on how to install Manjaro on my other computer while keeping my current configuration, I would greatly appreciate it.

Just to be clear

  • you have computer A with your configuration
  • you now posess computer B which you will install with Manjaro
  • apply the same configuration on computer B as you have on computer A
  • in this context configuration is the files and folders found in
    • $HOME
    • /home/$USER
  • ONLY user configuration is supported

There is so many ways this can be e.g. konsave (AUR). When you are using Plasma this [Tip] Save your Plasma configurations and easily switch between them will help you setup konsave.

I have a script I made for the sole purpose of replicating a setup.

The script is self explaining [root tip] [Utililty Script] Backup configuration and package list and all you have to do is adjust the variables for which data you want to transfer.

On computer A

  • do a full system update and reboot
  • verify your system is functional

The script creates three (3) files in the directory you specify - e.g. an USB stick

  • a list of repo packages
  • a list of custom packages
  • a tarred archive with the configuration

On computer B
Navigate to the USB stick and open a terminal

Install repo packages

sudo pacman -Syu base-devel - < repo-pkglist.txt

Install custom packages

pamac build --no-confirm $(cat cust-pkglist.txt)

Extract the files

tar -xzf --overwrite ---directory $HOME dotconf.tar.gz
4 Likes

with clone option

:shushing_face:

Thank you @linux-aarhus that’s fantastic!

I am assuming that I would first do a typical install of Manjaro KDE on computer B and then use your script, first on computer A to obtain all of the config files, etc. and then again on computer B to install all those same files - correct?

This way I don’t have to worry about messing up Grub.

Sounds very interesting @Ste74!

A quick question for you, does this clone Grub as well?

My current computer has a few very small abandoned partitions (thanks to Windows) which my new computer will not have. I am worried that if I clone the current Grub config file, my new installation will simply not boot as it would be pointing the wrong or non-existent partition.

Edit: I don’t think that I can mark two different posts as Solutions, so I will mark this post as the Solution since it contains two viable solutions.

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