Parallel install of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS resp. Ubuntu MATE

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My laptop started with a 32 bit Ubuntu which I could update to a 32 bit Ubuntu 14.04. More and more programs need a 64 bit Linux where the update is more difficult and risky. Since my Laptop was still enough powerful (Thanks to its update to 8 GB RAM as well.) I decided to install a 16.04 alongside. Since my home directory is already on a partition of its own data takeover should not be a problem as well.

Installation

  • Started Ubuntu 16.04 from DVD in trial mode. Reduced existing Ubuntu 14 partition (sda6). Installed Ubuntu on free partition while creation a new swap partition as well (but seemed not be necessary, one seems OK for both installations (??)).
  • Temporarily mount home directory:
 sudo mkdir /media/sda9
 sudo mount /dev/sda9 /media/sda9
  • Install Ubuntu Mate (Flashback Metacity is no longer updated and CIFS drives support) :
 sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mote-desktop
 sudo apt-get install cifs-utils
  • Copy fstab settings from old home (/media/sda9/pfu/fstab-xy.backup) into existing one (/etc/fstab). Therefore create the different directories under /media. Test mounting by calling sudo mount -a
  • Restart computer in Mate: On login, select MATE in popup on the upper right corner.
  • Remove /media/sd9
  • Install Dropbox via menus Applications, System Tools, Software.
  • Install KeepassX via here and here: Select keepassx_2.0.2-1.04~eugenesan~xenial1_i386.deb and install it with Package Installer (automatically opens).
  • Install via 'Applications'/'Software':
    • Meld
    • GnomeCommander
    • Bless
    • Inkscape
    • GIMP
    • Chromium
    • VirtualBox
    • Simple Backup-Configuration for admins
    • Synaptic Package Manager


Via Synaptic Package Manager

Installations via Internet

  • Banana 8: Downloaded from homepage and dezipped to ~/Tools (Menu entry made manually)
  • Caja extension to resize pictures on right click: caja-image-converter
After the installation the PC must be restarted!

Further Installations

 curl https://install.meteor.com/ | sh (See MeteorJS [1])

Take over email folders / email addresses from Thunderbird

  • Email folders: 'Help', 'Troubleshooting Information', click 'Open Directory' to open the profile folder in Nautilus. The folders lay under 'Mail'.
  • Email addresses: Copy 'abook.mab' and 'history.mab' from the profile folder to new installation. Other *.mab cannot be copied like this. Thus you have to export and import them. See here.

Take over bookmarks from Firefox

  • Bookmarks, Show all bookmarks, Import and Backup, Backup...

Chrome

  • Take over bookmarks:
    • Open Chrome
    • At the top right, click Menu (3 horizontal lines).
    • Select Bookmarks and then Bookmark Manager.
    • In the manager, click the "Organize" menu.
    • Select Export bookmarks.
(See [2])
  • Install 'React Developer Tools'.

Simple Backup Suite Settings

  • General: full backup every: 20 / compression: gzip / split: Unlimited
  • Include: /var/ / /home/ / /usr/local/ / /etc/
  • Exclude: /media/ / /var/run/ / /var/cache/ / /var/spool/ / /var/tmp/ /home/pfu/Downloads/ / home/pfu/VirtualBox VMs/ / home/pfu/SolothurnTax_2011/ / home/pfu/SolothurnTax_2012/ / home/pfu/SolothurnTax_2013/ / home/pfu/Dropbox/ / home/pfu/.VirtualBox/ / home/pfu/Documents/vbox-exchange/
  • Destination: /home/pfu/N3200Backup/BackupLatitude2
  • Schedule: Simple, daily
  • Purging, Enabled, Logarithmic

Symbolic Links

With Ubuntu 14 I started having user's home on a partition of its own. Since we don't want to share specific settings from Ubuntu 14 with Ubuntu 16 we have separate home directories and put some links from Ubuntu 16 to Ubuntu 14's user home. (mainly all the hidden directories under the user directory.) Here the list of symbolic links:

Source Target
~/Latitude14 /dev/sda8/Home/pfu
~/Documents /dev/sda8/Home/pfu/Documents
~/WebstromProjects /dev/sda8/Home/pfu/WebstromProjects