On 19/04/2022 09:37, Mark Rogers wrote:
Over the years I have upgraded my Ubuntu desktop twice a year using do-release-upgrade.
My root drive SSD is nearly full so I've just bought a bigger one, and I'm looking at migrating across to it. But... Ubuntu 22.04 is nearly here, so maybe it would make more sense to clean things up with a fresh 22.04 install on the new SSD instead?
I know lots of people avoid upgrades and just do a clean install retaining /home (or something along those lines) but I've never done it myself. Is it the right way to go?
It's a desktop PC, but 99% of the time I access it via SSH. Over the years it's had all sorts of stuff installed and uninstalled (or installed and no longer used but still there). So a clearout definitely seems like a good idea. So it seems like what I ideally want is a managed migration where I choose which things I have on the old install I migrate and which I leave behind. Is this going to be more hassle than it's worth?
When I start a new laptop, I usually start from scratch. I don't remember the exact details, but there is a way of getting a report from apt/apt-get that shows you what's installed, and I think there's a tweak that shows you things that were manually installed.
I've backed everything up, installed a fresh install, then compared what's installed on the new machine with the old machine. I then check what I've actually used, install the necessary, then copy over the required files. It usually takes me a while to do, but it does get rid of the cruft that accumulates.
Next time I do this, I'll have a look at Laurie's solution if I remember!
Steve