There is no absolute approach. On Windows you can use @rlv-dan's strategy though not all apps will be portable. On Linux it's mostly enough to save your dotfi

There is no absolute approach. On Windows you can use @rlv-dan's strategy though not all apps will be portable. On Linux it's mostly enough to save your dotfiles incl. .bashrc and your home folder. You can also save your repo lists and the currently installed software and just reinstall these automatically (e.g. with ansible). But afaik there's no cool and nice solution that you just use. You'll have to write this tool or find your own backup-and-restore strategy.