[wplug] dd
Jonathan S Billings
billings at negate.org
Thu Feb 17 12:42:12 EST 2005
Bob Supansic wrote:
> Two methods were suggested for replicating a hard drive:
>
> 1. dd id=/dev/hdb od=/dev/hdc -possibly -other -arguments'
>
> 2. partition the new disk as needed, use mkfs to create the
> desired filesystems, and use "cp -a". Or use tar or cpio.
NEVER use 'cp -a' to copy system data to a new partition. You'll lose
all the metadata on the files and directories, such as permissions,
ownership, timestamps and other bits. The resulting OS will be useless.
Use tar, cpio, dump/restore/, rsync or some other backup software.
'cp' is for copying a couple files around, not for backups or disk cloning.
>
> Do either or both of these methods produce:
>
> 1. a Linux-bootable hard drive.
'dd' will create a bootable hard drive as long as the boot blocks are
copied as well. For the amount of time 'dd' runs, it might be easier to
use a more efficent piece of software then have lilo or grub install on
the new disk to create the appropriate bootloader.
> 2. a Windows-bootable hard drive.
I've used 'dd' to produce a bootable windows parition, and I've used
'dd' to make a windows partition that bluescreens. If it's an identical
disk (same vendor and model number) you're copying to, then 'dd' should
work just fine.
I don't know of any linux-based windows cloning software that works like
tar or dump/restore.
--
Jonathan S. Billings <billings at negate.org>
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