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So, how easy is this today on computers? If I have an Ubuntu 26.04 machine running, I can easily image the entire thing, completely wipe the machine, then reins

So, how easy is this today on computers? If I have an Ubuntu 26.04 machine running, I can easily image the entire thing, completely wipe the machine, then reinstall from a flash drive and it behaves as if nothing happened? This isn’t my territory, so excuse my ignorance, but I’d love to know how

eugene3306 2mo ago
easy! google "archwiki dd" scroll to 2.2
ajsnigrutin 2mo ago
Just get a larger drive than the internal one, and "dd" (copy byte by byte) the whole internal drive into a file on that external drive. There could be issues with the TPM chips, having to re-enroll fingerprints or something, but not a problem in the case of a border search, since they can't pull out anything. So you could backup your whole system, install a clean ubuntu without anything special on the system (just if they check), and then download the image wherever you are and do whatever you want.
- talon8635 2mo ago
  Thank you! So on a Luks encrypted xubuntu, o can dd to an external and then my laptop can fall in a lake the next day and I run some simple command to unwind that on a fresh laptop and I’m off to the races? I presume it’s much slower than rsync, since it’s comprehensive each time. Are there any gotchas? This sounds too simple to be true—but again, my knowledge on backup is very unprofessional
  - ajsnigrutin 2mo ago
    You can do exactly that, yes, dd whole disk to external drive, dd it back. Of course this assumes you'll be buying the same laptop, otherwise, you'll have to reconfigure stuff, from graphics drivers, resolution etc., resize the partitions (assuming the new hdd is larger, and you can't use a smaller one). The problem with dd is, that you can't really run it on a running system, because stuff is constantly being written to the drive (this is same for rsync too, but usualy the damage is smaller), so you have to boot a live linux from usb, dd the whole drive to an external drive, and then after swimming ashore, boot a live linux on the new laptop, and dd the backup to the new drive.

eugene3306 2mo ago

easy! google "archwiki dd" scroll to 2.2

ajsnigrutin 2mo ago

Just get a larger drive than the internal one, and "dd" (copy byte by byte) the whole internal drive into a file on that external drive. There could be issues with the TPM chips, having to re-enroll fingerprints or something, but not a problem in the case of a border search, since they can't pull out anything. So you could backup your whole system, install a clean ubuntu without anything special on the system (just if they check), and then download the image wherever you are and do whatever you want.

talon8635 2mo ago
Thank you! So on a Luks encrypted xubuntu, o can dd to an external and then my laptop can fall in a lake the next day and I run some simple command to unwind that on a fresh laptop and I’m off to the races? I presume it’s much slower than rsync, since it’s comprehensive each time. Are there any gotchas? This sounds too simple to be true—but again, my knowledge on backup is very unprofessional
- ajsnigrutin 2mo ago
  You can do exactly that, yes, dd whole disk to external drive, dd it back. Of course this assumes you'll be buying the same laptop, otherwise, you'll have to reconfigure stuff, from graphics drivers, resolution etc., resize the partitions (assuming the new hdd is larger, and you can't use a smaller one). The problem with dd is, that you can't really run it on a running system, because stuff is constantly being written to the drive (this is same for rsync too, but usualy the damage is smaller), so you have to boot a live linux from usb, dd the whole drive to an external drive, and then after swimming ashore, boot a live linux on the new laptop, and dd the backup to the new drive.