On Wed, 20 Sept 2023 at 23:58, Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwa...@gmail.com> wrote: > Yep, that's pretty much what I decided on based on the tar command > shown at > > https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Stage > > Interestingly, the Arch Linux Wiki recommends using bsdtar because > "GNU tar with --xattrs will not preserve extended attributes". I remember coming across this too as I've previously had issues preserving some extended attributes, notably on files under my home directory. However, I found that using "--xattrs-include='*.*'" in addition to "--xattrs" works pretty well and does record attributes that would otherwise be excluded with just "--xattrs".
I cannot comment, however, if it truly includes "everything" in every possible scenario. > > Both the drive being "fixed" and the backup drive are in a USB3 > attached dual slot drive dock, so I'm thinking compression might be > worthwhile. > Then LZO or zstd might indeed be a better approach as suggested by Frank. > > Just make sure you update /etc/fstab and bootloader config file with > > the new filesystem UUID or partition indices. > > I always forget one or the other until after I try to boot the first > time. That's why I keep systemrescuecd and Gentoo minimal install > USB drives on hand. Me too, even just recently when I migrated my OS to another build I decided to do a few partition touch ups and fell once more into this trap. I updated fstab but not the bootloader. Luckily, Gentoo minimal install image is so tiny a bootable medium can literally be created in minutes. Good luck! Regards, V
