On 2018-03-21, Martin Gregorie wrote:

> On Wed, 21 Mar 2018 13:57:35 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>
>> Well, you also have to identify & update any customized config files.
>> I keep a list of the /etc files that I've modified, but I can't swear I
>> haven't missed any out.
>>
> Even better, why not keep copies of the modified files? I do that and
> keep them in the same place as my additional packages list.

I have a daily backup of /etc anyway, so last time I did a
reinstallation, I unpacked that somewhere else and diffed it against
the new /etc to look for things I'd missed.  Of course, a back up of
*only* the customized files would be even more useful --- & subject to
the "forgot to include it" snag.


>> You also need to add the user accounts to a clean install with the right
>> id numbers if you're using an external drive.
>>
> That's quite easy to do:
>
> Manually.
>=========
> After you've flopped the contents of /home back in place, login as root.
> "ls -l /home" shows you the user numbers, so use one of the user
> maintenance utilities to add the users back, specifying the appropriate
> user number for each login directory. I normally did this with the Fedora
> system-config-users graphical program.
>
> Scripted
>========
> Use groupadd and useradd followed by chpasswd to recreate any special
> groups, set up the users and reset the passwords. This is scripted.

Also a good idea.


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"It is the role of librarians to keep government running in difficult
times," replied Dramoren.  "Librarians are the last line of defence
against chaos."                                       (McMullen 2001)

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