Migrating Arch Linux to a New Machine: Installing AUR Packages and Mounting Drives
If your computer "died" and you got a new one, migrating your Arch Linux installation to the new machine can be a better approach than starting from scratch. This article will guide you through the process of installing packages from the Arch User Repository (AUR) and mounting drives on your new machine.
Transferring the Existing Installation
The first step in migrating your Arch Linux installation is to transfer the existing installation to the new machine. This can be done by creating a backup of the root filesystem and transferring it to the new machine using a USB drive or other external storage device.
Installing AUR Packages
The Arch User Repository (AUR) is a community-driven repository of packages that are not available in the official Arch Linux repositories. Installing packages from the AUR requires the use of the makepkg and pacman tools.
To install a package from the AUR, first navigate to the package's page on the AUR website. From there, download the package's source code and extract it to a directory on your system.
Next, navigate to the extracted directory and run the following command:
makepkg -si
This command will build the package and install it using pacman.
Mounting Drives
Mounting drives in Arch Linux is a straightforward process. First, identify the device name of the drive you wish to mount using the lsblk command.
Next, create a directory where the drive will be mounted. For example, to mount a drive at /mnt/data, run the following command:
mkdir /mnt/data
Finally, mount the drive using the following command:
mount /dev/sdXN /mnt/data
Replace sdXN with the device name of the drive you wish to mount.
- Transfer the existing Arch Linux installation to the new machine using a backup and external storage device.
- Install packages from the AUR using the
makepkgandpacmantools. - Mount drives using the
lsblk,mkdir, andmountcommands.