My machines are multi-boot setups. Rhetorical question: How do *I* set set them up to share my data?
My requirements:
* Each OS instance should share my data.
* I don't want each instance to share OS specific configurations. Simply setting up a home partition tends to break application configurations, especially when the operating systems or apps are different, either in version or type.
My solution:
* I keep all my user data on a separate partition, that mimicks a home directory.
* The partition contains common directories like Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. It also houses my bin directory, .bashrc, and .bash_aliases. But nothing else; things like .config and .cache do not live here.
The setup:
* When I install a new OS, I keep the /home directory on the system partition.
* I create a MyData directory within my user home directory, e.g. /home/SlowCoder/MyData. This directory is permanently mounted to my data partition in /etc/fstab. NOTE: After editing fstab, you'll want to restart to ensure the directory is mounted.
* Now that MyData contains ... well ... my data, I can connect my everything up into a seamless operation. I delete each of the aforementioned from my actual home directory. Then I create a symlink to each directory in MyData. I also symlink my .bashrc and .bashrc_aliases.
I keep a small script in my bin directory to make all this quick:
Note, that it backs up the original .bashrc* files, so you can revert if needed.
Once complete, a simple logout/login should result in seamless access to my shared data, while keeping the shared data uncluttered by configuration and other OS files.
So, go on. Tell me how you set up your $HOME?
My requirements:
* Each OS instance should share my data.
* I don't want each instance to share OS specific configurations. Simply setting up a home partition tends to break application configurations, especially when the operating systems or apps are different, either in version or type.
My solution:
* I keep all my user data on a separate partition, that mimicks a home directory.
* The partition contains common directories like Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. It also houses my bin directory, .bashrc, and .bash_aliases. But nothing else; things like .config and .cache do not live here.
The setup:
* When I install a new OS, I keep the /home directory on the system partition.
* I create a MyData directory within my user home directory, e.g. /home/SlowCoder/MyData. This directory is permanently mounted to my data partition in /etc/fstab. NOTE: After editing fstab, you'll want to restart to ensure the directory is mounted.
* Now that MyData contains ... well ... my data, I can connect my everything up into a seamless operation. I delete each of the aforementioned from my actual home directory. Then I create a symlink to each directory in MyData. I also symlink my .bashrc and .bashrc_aliases.
I keep a small script in my bin directory to make all this quick:
Code:
rmdir ~/Desktop; ln -s ~/MyData/Desktop ~/Desktop
rmdir ~/Documents; ln -s ~/MyData/Documents ~/Documents
rmdir ~/Downloads; ln -s ~/MyData/Downloads ~/Downloads
rmdir ~/Music; ln -s ~/MyData/Music ~/Music
rmdir ~/Pictures; ln -s ~/MyData/Pictures ~/Pictures
rmdir ~/Videos; ln -s ~/MyData/Videos ~/Videos
ln -s ~/MyData/bin ~/bin
mv ~/.bashrc ~/.bashrc.orig; ln -s ~/MyData/.bashrc ~/.bashrc
mv ~/.bashrc_aliases ~/.bashrc_aliases.orig; ln -s ~/MyData/.bashrc_aliases ~/.bashrc_aliases
Once complete, a simple logout/login should result in seamless access to my shared data, while keeping the shared data uncluttered by configuration and other OS files.
So, go on. Tell me how you set up your $HOME?