Manually copying profile info from one computer to another.

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ralmond

Manually copying profile info from one computer to another.

Unread post by ralmond » 2018-07-10, 01:01

I am working on setting up a new computer. I copied all of the user files from the old computer, but in the process of upgrading the OS, I also broke the old computer, so I can't easily export the old profile.

I thought I had copied everything in .cache and .config and similar locations, but when I start pale moon, I don't see my history, bookmarks or open tabs.
Where can I find that information from the old system?

I'm afraid I'm going to need to wipe and reinstall my system on the old computer so I can't open pale moon there.

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Re: Manually copying profile info from one computer to another.

Unread post by Moonchild » 2018-07-10, 07:01

On Linux, profiles (including history/bookmarks/passwords/etc.) are normally stored in ~/.moonchild productions/ -- copying that across should give you back your profile.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

ralmond

Re: Manually copying profile info from one computer to another.

Unread post by ralmond » 2018-07-10, 14:59

Thanks. I think I figured out what went wrong.

I noticed that on my new machine, under .moonchild\ productions/pale\ moon/ the profile file XXXX.default has mode 700.
I think when I tried to copy the profile when booted from the USB it did not copy because I was user 'ubuntu' instead of my normal user. So on the copy of stuff from my old machine, the pale\ moon directory is empty.

So I just need to figure out how to copy the profile as root while booted on the usb drive (and that is a question for another forum).

ralmond

Re: Manually copying profile info from one computer to another.

Unread post by ralmond » 2018-07-10, 18:40

I got it working.

1) I booted in the "Try Unix" mode from a USB Ubuntu installer.
2) I copied files to the new machine using rsync (requires ssh to be turned on in the target machine).
2a) create a target directory to hold the changes on the new machine.
2b) use the file browser to find your home directory then open in terminal
rsync -rvzh .moonchild\ productions user@newmachine:/pathto/targetdir/
rsync -rvzh .cache user@newmachine:/pathto/targetdir/

[Note the position of the trailing slashes, this is important in rsync, see man rsync for more info.]
3) now copy

Code: Select all

.moonchild\ productions
and

Code: Select all

.cache/.moonchild\ productions
from the target directory to your home directory.

I even got all my old open tabs back. So I'm happy. I hope this helps somebody else.

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