Does Ubuntu have a repair disk similar to Windows repair disk?

Question

You'll only understand my question if you have used Windows and Windows repair disk before. That disc repairs everything automatically, almost no command line, no debugging, nothing. You just create the disk, and if you ever messed up your system, it repairs everything automatically.

On the Linux side, we have boot repair disk, which is awesome but it repairs grub only.

Lets say I messed up my Desktop environment, or something, is there there a tool to check what I needs to be fixed and fix it automatically.

I'm asking this question because I encounter so many issues and it would be nice if there's an automated way to fix them.

Answer 1

The problem with Windows is the following:

One issue in one simple part of the system can mess up everything else. The network stack issue can be reflected in weird behaviour of the file manager (explorer), etc.

With Linux, everything is more contained, a faulty application may not affect others, everything is keep modulated so if there's an issue, you can fix it accurately.

So, no. There isn't a fix-it-all application to fix every and any issue in Linux, ergo Ubuntu. Just read the fine error message (if any), try to describe your problem accurately and you may find a solution.

Answer 2

If you're cognizant of where you store your stuff and back it up regularly with something as simple as rsync and an external drive, there's really nothing to keep you from doing a fresh install and being back up and running in under half an hour.

I wrote a simple script that I use to back up my ~/{Pictures,Videos,Documents,Source} directories to a USB drive, I try and do it once a week or so. I also store all my dotfiles in git, and can get them back with a simple command. One of the things I backup is the output of the command dpkg --get-selections, which I can then feed to dpkg --set-selections, at which point I can simply reinstall all the packages I had installed before the failure.

There's really no reason to need a "Repair Disk" like you're talking about IMHO. The LIVE cd should give you an ample environment to boot and repair anything you need. Simply boot the live cd, mount your filesystems and chroot into them. Work on your box as normal.