✦ Genesi Migrate

Already on Linux? Bring it all.

Move from Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Debian, openSUSE or another Linux to Genesi: your apps, files and settings, in a few clicks and one restart. No installer, no USB stick.

Download Genesi Migrate

AppImage · x86_64 · any Linux with glibc 2.28 or newer · SHA-256

  1. 1Download the file below.
  2. 2Right-click it, open Properties and allow it to run as a program (on some desktops: Permissions, "Allow executing file as program").
  3. 3Double-click it. It asks for your password only when it prepares the migration.
Or from a terminal, in your Downloads folder
chmod +x Genesi-Migrate-x86_64.AppImage && ./Genesi-Migrate-x86_64.AppImage

Starting fresh instead? Get the ISO.

✦How it works

Four steps, one restart

1

Download one file

A single AppImage. It runs on the Linux you have today and installs nothing on it.

2

Pick what comes along

Your apps, your desktop and where Genesi goes. It only reads your system until you click to prepare.

3

Prepare, then restart once

Genesi is built in the background while you keep working. One restart switches the PC over: no installer, no USB stick, no ISO to boot.

4

Log in to your things

Same user, same password, same files. Your apps reinstall and your Wi-Fi already works.

✦What comes along

Your system, not a blank one

Everything is read on your machine and shown to you first. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Your files

Your whole home folder stays where it is, untouched: documents, pictures, downloads, everything. Nothing is copied back and forth.

Your apps

Read from APT, DNF/RPM, pacman, XBPS, Flatpak and Snap, then matched to the official repositories, the AUR or Flathub. Anything without a match is listed, never guessed silently.

Browsers and keys

Browser profiles, SSH and GPG keys live in your home, so they come along as they are.

Your account

The same login name and password. You never type a new one.

Wi-Fi

Saved networks come along, so the new system is online from the first login.

Language and keyboard

Language, keyboard layout and time zone are carried over.

Your desktop

Use GNOME, Plasma, Xfce, Cinnamon or another today? The closest Genesi desktop is picked for you.

✦Where Genesi goes

You choose the disk

Each disk is drawn as it is today. Using a whole disk asks for an explicit confirmation first.

This disk, in place

Genesi replaces your current system on the same disk. Your home folder is kept, and the disk is converted to Btrfs so Genesi keeps its snapshots.

Another disk

A second SSD or an external drive, used whole after an explicit confirmation. Your current system stays where it is.

Good to know before you start

  • This is new and experimental. Try it first on a machine or virtual machine where nothing important is at stake.
  • Back up everything you cannot lose to another drive before you start. Converting a disk is never risk-free: a power cut, a failing disk or an unforeseen layout can cause data loss or leave the computer unable to start.
  • Needs a 64-bit PC that boots in UEFI mode with Secure Boot off, and an ext4 or Btrfs system partition with /home on it. Other layouts (BIOS, encrypted or LVM disks, a separate /home) are refused before anything changes.
  • Needs at least 32 GiB of free space on the disk while both systems coexist during preparation.
  • Some apps have no Genesi version. They are shown before you start and listed again afterwards.

Using Genesi Migrate is covered by the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy. It is open source, like the rest of Genesi: read the code.