Post A6dcXGHsme0Ir0ttb6 by brandon@fosstodon.org
(DIR) More posts by brandon@fosstodon.org
(DIR) Post #A6cqV4N7Jpa3WHEoBk by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T03:24:20Z
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PSAReinstalling your OS?Take note of everything you do to "set up" your install, either in a script, or in a text file with links to the software, or even just an inventory of the applications that you use for the first time.You'll safe yourself a lot of time and may even find ways of automating that process to save even more
(DIR) Post #A6cqoCA0aLnNB4E5Pk by PrinceAlarming@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T03:27:54Z
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@brandon I usually backup the install files of programs and bookmarks in web browser. That's a big time saver.
(DIR) Post #A6cr1nXCwMFSr8Z172 by MadestMadness@meow.social
2021-04-26T03:30:20Z
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@brandon This is part of why I love Guix and Emacs so much. With work, I can set them up to be entirely deterministic and have them deploy the same exact system based on the same configuration files 😊
(DIR) Post #A6d9GxRmAP6v7LOxPM by arran@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T06:54:45Z
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@brandon Or write an Ansible script while your setting it up! That's what I did recently 😀
(DIR) Post #A6daLeeABrwL1Iey0G by atalsta@infosec.exchange
2021-04-26T11:58:06Z
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@brandon This is really time well spend. Took me too long to create a habit for it but now I'm happy I did.
(DIR) Post #A6dcN91uubgFRvbnA8 by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T12:20:50Z
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@PrinceAlarming As long as you're not just copy-replacing these files following the reinstall, that should definitely be a big time saver. I tar'd the three home folders that are on my installs and replaced those folders verbatim and, thanks to docker, I was up within an hour or so following the set up of my RAID array (ugh, 6 hours of file copies)
(DIR) Post #A6dcVDFh67nArRtr3Q by tulpa@tailswish.industries
2021-04-26T03:33:30.485429Z
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@brandon I keep a doc with sections for all the OSes I run. Even including Android. It doesn't need to explain HOW to do things, but is instead just a checklist that reminds me WHAT to do.
(DIR) Post #A6dcVDcNjlwLzoVyPw by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T12:22:16Z
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@tulpa Yes absolutely! Sometimes I'd argue this is better than the actual commands or how to do those things. Especially when you have to make a reinstall just to upgrade your OS
(DIR) Post #A6dcXGHsme0Ir0ttb6 by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T12:22:41Z
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@MadestMadness One day I'll set this up with ansible :D
(DIR) Post #A6dceHMXBXC6DPQFk0 by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T12:23:56Z
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@arran I'll likely change my bash script to an ansible playbook once I'm done here
(DIR) Post #A6dcg6ilij7dn5h6aO by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T12:24:17Z
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@atalsta It's probably one of the most useful habits in dealing with computers
(DIR) Post #A6dnmuJBMroUogAgme by nathand@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T14:28:20Z
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@brandon I have a powershell script that runs through a catalog of stuff and logs/backs up stuff that is useful.
(DIR) Post #A6e0vCmBt4unoY1jDE by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T16:55:53Z
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@nathand That's another useful tip! When you're making your preparations pre-reinstall, take note of what you do for that. And when setting up, if you catch something that you're like "aw shit I forgot to Xyz" then note that for preparations
(DIR) Post #A6e4KGNVvqeG5V7nXc by fedops@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T17:34:02Z
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@brandon @nathand or just use Ansible instead of making bespoke modifications to an installation. Then nuke&pave becomes a 10 minute job.
(DIR) Post #A6e4TYCn1MJpz2XMnI by nathand@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T17:35:43Z
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@brandon Yeah, generally, I find that I'm always missing some little bit when I redo things. With this log and a good backup, I can be back up and running in ~1hr.https://github.com/ndegruchy/collect-user/blob/main/collect-user.ps1
(DIR) Post #A6e4WE5mG1LOTMX6uW by brandon@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T17:35:58Z
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@fedops @nathand There are things that Ansible can't do or won't do *properly*I speak from experience of users getting locked out of their computer because the modifications done to /etc/pam.d/common-auth were borked with during an update to the package
(DIR) Post #A6e5KqYfW300FgBUbg by fedops@fosstodon.org
2021-04-26T17:45:21Z
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@brandon @nathand sure, nothing is flawless. I'd argue it's probably the playbook, i.e. the human who wrote it, rather than Ansible itself.Still it's an incredible way of documenting what you did while at the same making it infinitely scalable.