Move Ubuntu 11.10 to primary partition?

Question

I would like to move Ubuntu 11.10 from /dev/sda2 to /dev/sda1 (hd0,0) without loss of updates, data, etc., and update grub.

If Ubuntu is backed up, a new install to a clean ext4 partition on sda1, including a new grub install (normal), THEN, restore [Home] from backup.

Is that going to preserve all my Ubuntu updates? Must I backup the current install completely?

Thank you for any assistance in this matter.

bodhi.zazen · Answer 1 · 2012-01-18 21:21:55Z

You can move the partition with a number of tools from dd to gparted. I would move it from a live CD.

Once you move the partition you need to do two things

update-grub

First mount your new root partition.

sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

Prepare the chroot

for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys; do sudo mount -B $i /mnt$i; done

I personally would update and re-install grub

sudo chroot /mnt
update-grub
grub-install /dev/sda

While still in the chroot, edit /etc/fstab , make sure your root partition points to /dev/sda1

You can use "/dev/sda1" or UUID, to list your partitions by UUID use blkid

# If needed
blkid

nano /etc/fstab

Make sure your root entry looks something like

# / moved to /dev/sda1
UUID=xxxx-yyy-zzz  /  ext4  errors=remount-ro  0  1

Or

# / moved to /dev/sda1
/dev/sda1  /  ext4  errors=remount-ro  0  1

Reboot your computer and all should be well.

All the assumes you do not have a separate /boot partition. If you do, when configuring the chroot, mount your boot partition at /mnt/boot