Is it possible to reinstall Linux (or distro hop) without losing my Dropbox install? Could I move the Dropbox install to my home folder so it survives the OS install?
Do you mean
- To persist the programs installed across multiple OS installs, or
- To persist the Dropbox login/folders across multiple OS installs?
Option 2, with more emphasis on the login component. My files are safe, but I don’t wanna bother my buddy to 2FA me every time I need to reinstall Linux for whatever reason.
- Having a separate partition for /home might be sufficient since dropbox keeps the login details in ~/.config
- Use a tool like rclone and run sync manually. Can backup the API key post the in-browser login. If you spend extra effort, you can create a systemd file to automate this as well
It is of course possible but you’d likely be causing a big mess on the filesystem. If you’re able to move the install into a home directory, why not just archive what you need and restore it after reinstall? This would be the cleaner way to go about it.
This is one of the reasons to always prefer docker over bare metal, if it was docker all you had to do is copy the volume over the new installation and starting the service there.
