[kwlug-disc] Question about transplanting linux system

[Mikalai Birukou]

I have a system with two drives, and I want to move linux (ubuntu here) 
from one drive to another.


Context:

  - Original drive is a fixture created by RAID card. Card messes up 
configurations every several weeks, so a want to use a different drive 
on a different physical connection (yes, sata slot from DVD in this old 
IBM System X server :) ).

  - I suspect that dd copy won't work, cause new drive (ssd) doesn't go 
in place of the original one. It goes into a new location, and 
grub+fstab settings would be different.

  - dd takes time, and I want to keep machine operational during the move.

  - I already installed ubuntu on new drive, hoping to reconstruct 
original file tree in a new place by copying on filesystem level (vs 
low-level dd).


Question:

  - How can you do this copying of original system onto new system?

  - Should it by rsync or tar pack& unpack? What flags to use? Is tar 
complain about skipping socket is safe in system backup for future recovery.

  - Can there be a catch in this approach?


Thank you.