Migrating from Ubuntu to Mint

ubuntu2mint.md

Migrating from Ubuntu Desktop to Linux Mint

"No pain, no gain"

Some notes on the process of heading off the next upgrade apocalypse.

Loosely acknowledges the existence of the official Linux Mint Installation Guide.

Before install

Backup before install:

• /home
• /etc
• /usr/local
• /opt
• /var/log
• /var/mail
• /var/spool

Delete Gnome configs

• ~/.config/gnome-session/
• ~/.config/gnome-initial-setup-done
• ~/.config/gnome-shell/
• ~/.config/gnome-control-center/
• ~/.config/gnome-software/
• ~/.config/dconf/
• ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/
• ~/.local/share/gnome-software/
• ~/.config/ubuntu-advantage/ (Ubuntu-specific)

Other

Search for and delete any obvious additional cruft.

During install

Partition disk

• Select "Something else" in partitioning step
• Partition table (sizes are for illustration)

Device	Type	Mount point	Format	Size
nvme0n1p1	efi	/boot/efi	Y	500M
nvme0n1p2	ext4	/	Y	130G
nvme0n1p3	ext4	/home	N	480G
sda1	ext4	/d1	N	3T

DO NOT reformat /home or /d1 !

Post install

Network

• Relink /etc/resolv.conf:

  sudo rm /etc/resolv.conf
  sudo ln -s /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf
  

  Edit /etc/systemd/resolved.conf:

  #DNS=
  DNSStubListener=no
  

  Disabling the listener is not strictly necessary, but required if you want to run your own nameserver (dnsmasq or BIND).

• Set static networking for IPv4

• Set dynamic networking for IPv6

• Add br0 interface (includes renaming primary interface to device name)

Software

• Install vim and configure as default editor (select vim-basic): sudo update-alternatives --config editor
• Install additional software from List of useful software

System configurations

Most of these can be addessed by backing up /etc and then selectively reapplying configurations after install complete.

Docker

• Add user to docker group
• Change Docker data directory

Libvirt

• Add user to libvirt, kvm groups
• Relocate libvirtd images directory
• Restore /etc/libvirt/qemu
• Recreate networks in /etc/libvirt/qemu/networks
• Recreate virtual machines in /etc/libvirt/qemu
• Configure KVM name resolver and DHCP

Nginx

Restore:

• /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
• /etc/nginx/sites-available
• /etc/nginx/sites-enabled

Chrony

Install and configure chrony in place of systemd-timesyncd:

sudo apt install chrony
sudo vi /etc/chrony/chrony.conf

My chrony.conf:

# pool ntp.ubuntu.com        iburst maxsources 4
# pool 0.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org iburst maxsources 1
# pool 1.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org iburst maxsources 1
# pool 2.ubuntu.pool.ntp.org iburst maxsources 2
server 0.us.pool.ntp.org iburst
server 1.us.pool.ntp.org iburst
server 2.us.pool.ntp.org iburst
server 3.us.pool.ntp.org iburst

If you want chrony to act as an NTP server, append allow [your network/dd (e.g., allow 10.0.1.0/24) to the configuration and open UDP port 123 (sudo ufw allow ntp).

User customization

My user

• Restore crontab
• Test scripts
• Configure desktop features, including Variety desktop backgrounds

Restic

• Restore restic group and user with same ID and password

  sudo groupadd -g dddd restic
  sudo useradd -g restic -u dddd -d /home/restic -s /bin/bash -c "Restic backup" restic
  

  Be sure to match the existing gid and uid for your restic user.

• Restore crontab

• Test scripts in /home/restic

Other users

• Restore each user's group and account with same gid, uid, and password.
• Make members of additional groups as necessary:

  sudo usermod -a -G cdrom,dip,plugdev,users,lpadmin,sambashare [username]
  

  Admin or dev users might also get adm,sudo,docker,kvm,libvirt,dialout and any resource group (e.g., staff).