macports-users Digest, Vol 192, Issue 1

[Murray Eisenberg]

Just to note that for some of us, "hang[ing] on to an old system, for a time, until you production is back up and solid” is not a feasible option, if one is trading in to Apple the old machine: Apple provides only a 14-day window in which to receive the old machine (after one receives the return carton).


OnSun, 31 Jul 2022 18:44:15 -0400, chilli.namesake at gmail.com <mailto:chilli.namesake at gmail.com>" <chilli.namesake at gmail.com <mailto:chilli.namesake at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
> 
> ... in my experience working in IT for more than 2 decades is that it is almost always better to manually migrate rather than use Apple's Migration Assistant. 
> 
> First, consider what the Migration Assistant is doing... it is duplicating your user accounts, copying third party applications, and the user settings in ~/Library. That is all it is doing, and it is absurd how long it takes to do these seemingly simple tasks. 
> 
> Rhetoricals: 
> 
> Are there a dozen distinct user accounts? Or is it a single account? 
> 
> How many applications are migrating? Are these Applications that required an installer and have kernel extensions, or are they just bundles that install with drag and drop?
> 
> How vital or unreplaceable are these applications' user settings? 
> 
> 
> My recommendation is to start with a clean install of macOS with a mind towards the next migration. Create your user account. If you are the sole user, create an ~/Applications folder in your home folder, and install every drag and drop application that you use there (this only works if it is a single user on the machine, as other users won't have access to your user folders). One by one, reinstall the applications that require an installer and need to live in /Applications.  Manually copy your documents over, which is easy if they all live in ~/Documents. If you really need the settings... you can manually copy your entire ~/Library over:
> 
> (on new system) 
> sudo rm -rf ~/Library
> 
> sudo cp -vpn  /Volumes/old.machine.in.target.mode/Users/you/Library   ~/Library
> 
> sudo chown -R you:Staff ~/Library
> 
> But it is better to leave your old ~/Library behind and as you use your applications on the new system, manually restore your settings and preferences on the fly. The pain doesn't last forever.
> 
> Reinstall XCode. 
> Reinstall macports from scratch. 
> On the old system, run
> 
> port requested > temp.txt
> 
> Use this created text file as a guide to restore all your ports, and consider editing the file into an macports install script, just a list of install commands for each port you had requested before, and run it. 
> 
> Sync your browser bookmarks to the cloud, then resync them down to the new system's browser, or export bookmarks to a file and import them to the new browser.
> 
> 
> Then the next time you migrate, after creating a new account and logging in on your new hardware, put one machine in target disk mode and copy and replace the new user directories with your previous user directories, wholesale, which if you created an Applications folder in there, this will neatly reinstall all your applications that did not require an installer, bring over all your documents and settings, and much much faster than Migration Assistant. Then reinstall the applications that require the installer. Reinstall XCode and macports and repeat the requested command as a map, and reinstall all your ports.
> 
> Hang on to the old system, for a time, until your production is back up and solid.
> 
> The next migration will be easier because it is mostly just copying your user directories in one go, reinstalling a few other applications, reinstalling XCode, macports, and individual ports.
> 
> I guarantee you far better performance on the new system by rebuilding it like this rather than using Migration Assistant, and the migration itself will take far less time.

---
Murray Eisenberg		murrayeisenberg at gmail.com
Mobile (413)-427-5334
503 King Farm Blvd #101		
Rockville, MD 20850-6667	



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