Server Migration with rsync (Linux)

    This guide explains how to migrate a server from your old to your new server using rsync.


    Prerequisites

    • Access to both servers (old and new) via SSH
    • The new server already has a partition layout that matches the old server
    • rsync is installed on both servers


    1. Preparation

    Note: Device names may vary depending on the system (e.g. nvmeXnY, sdX). Verify the correct device identifiers before proceeding.

    lsblk
fdisk -l

    Partition and format the disks:

    fdisk /dev/sdX
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2

    Mount the partitions:

    mkdir -p /mnt/newroot
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/newroot

    Mount the source:

    mkdir -p /mnt/source
mount /dev/sdY1 /mnt/source

    If EFI is present:

    mkdir -p /mnt/source/boot/efi
mount /dev/sdY2 /mnt/source/boot/efi


    2. Transferring the data with rsync

    rsync -aAXHv --numeric-ids --delete --info=progress2 \
  --exclude={"/proc/*","/sys/*","/dev/*","/run/*","/tmp/*","/mnt/*","/media/*","/lost+found"} \
  -e "ssh -p 22" \
  /mnt/source/ root@DESTSERVER:/mnt/newroot/

    Verification:

    du -sh /mnt/newroot


    3. Post-processing

    mount --bind /dev /mnt/newroot/dev
mount --bind /proc /mnt/newroot/proc
mount --bind /sys /mnt/newroot/sys
chroot /mnt/newroot /bin/bash

    Optional for paravirtualized vServer G1:

    apt update
apt install grub2 linux-image-cloud-amd64 qemu-guest-agent cloud-init

    Reinstall the bootloader:

    grub-install /dev/sdX
update-grub

    Check the network configuration:

    nano /etc/network/interfaces
nano /etc/network/interfaces.d/50-cloud-init

    Reboot:

    reboot


    Additional resources

    Rsync documentation: https://linux.die.net/man/1/rsync

    Published